


Amissa Anima

by reptah



Category: Bleach, Naruto
Genre: Crossover, F/M, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-01-26 16:00:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 57,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12561012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reptah/pseuds/reptah
Summary: Really, the mission had been simple. Receive the package, deliver the package, and return home in time for supper. So why did Sakura find herself in the town of Karakura, Japan?  Stuck in a strange world with no hope of returning home in sight; an eccentric shop keeper extends a hand and Haruno Sakura discovers this world is far stranger than she could have ever imagined.





	1. Chapter 1

It was the afternoon of a nice, clear and blue sunny day. As Sakura whisked through the tall trees native to the Fire Country at a speed too quick for a civilian's eyes to follow, she couldn’t help but think it was nice to be out in nature for once. She really was cooped up inside more than she thought or wanted. Ino once joked that she’d start growing mushrooms all over her body if she kept that up. Sakura was offended, it wasn’t like she never went outside ever, she was just busy.

_‘Very busy.’_ Sakura thought hotly. The hospital and her own personal projects kept her incredibly occupied and if it wasn’t for some dumb idiot wearing a hokage hat she’d still be doing exactly that.

Landing on a tree branch then shooting off again, she sighed. It wasn’t like Naruto was torturing her with this mission on purpose, he meant well, Naruto always meant well, but Sakura wasn’t in a position to do other things right now. And yet, here she was, delivering mail like some sort of pink-haired post-ninja. You can’t exactly say ‘no’ to the Hokage when he orders you to complete a mission.

But courier missions were not Sakura’s line of work.

The missions she used to take part in her genin, chuunin, and even present-time jounin days were not as common anymore now that they were in a time of peace. But courier missions… were even fewer and far between; at least not anymore.

When Tsunade had still been Hokage, Sakura had been sent on all sorts of diplomatic and message-delivering missions. However. during that portion of her life she had still been training under Tsunade, who had enthused over these missions, telling Sakura that they were meant to strengthen Sakura’s political skills and that she should consider it training.

_“Sakura, a true shinobi does not just deal in blades and subterfuge. If you truly want to become a skilled shinobi, you must consider how you hold yourself in the presence of others and just what you represent as a ninja of Konohagakure.”_

An incredibly thought provoking and moving speech... had her Shishou not been drunk at the time of said speech; and too lazy to find any available Jounin instead. It was always easier for her to just send Sakura. Which, Sakura supposed, made sense. Tsunade trusted her dearly and most of the mail was important. Keyword being most. Sakura couldn’t get too upset over it though, because she did learn a lot.

Now though, in these times of peace, Sakura mostly stayed within the village. She was busy dealing with not just the hospital but also the Children’s Mental Health Clinic. She was an incredibly busy person now so she didn’t have time to be chauffeuring dumb paper from one person to another. Get a genin team, or even an ANBU for goodness sakes!

Maybe she’s was a little bit more sore about this mission then she first thought. After all it was basically punishment for ‘working too much’. She didn’t work too much, she worked the perfectly normal amount for someone like her. And it was also perfectly normal to be dedicated to her work! Also, she thought, who tried to cure overwork with more work?

_‘“Go feel the wind in your hair and the sun on your skin, Sakura-chan, it’ll be great.”_ Sakura mocked her best friend’s voice in her head. _‘“I’m a dumb idiot who eats ramen every second and plays with frogs at the age of 25.’”_

  
Sure, the mission was complete and she was already on her way home but… next time she sees Naruto and his dumb haircut, she’ll tell him to take his Hokage hat and stick it up his-

A glint of metal from the trees in front of her immediately halted her inner mocking monologue and she dove from the branch she had just touched down on, barely dodging the three kunai that impaled themselves into said branch.

Twisting her body through the air, she spotted her attacker mid flip and retaliated with a kunai of her own. The shinobi who had thrown the kunai easily, deflected her kunai with his short blade and Sakura took that split second to scan her surroundings. There were three of them. One in the trees, two on the ground. She couldn’t see the other two, be she could sense their chakra. They either didn’t bother to hide or were too unskilled to do so. Sakura kept an open mind, she wouldn’t underestimate them, because that would get her killed.

Grabbing one of the lower tree branches mid air and using the momentum of her dive, she swung herself up onto its surface, barely getting out of her crouched position before one of the ground ninja jumped onto the same branch. She blocked his swing, unsheathing her machete with both speed and grace.

Shoving him off with great strength, Sakura roundhouse kicked him away. He hit the ground with a great crash, rubble exploding into the air as the ground cratered below him. He twitched, and then sank, unconscious. A thunk at her feet alerted her of another kunai, only this one had an explosive tag attached.

Sakura flash stepped away as fast as she could, but still caught the tail end of the explosion, sending her into another tree with enough force to leave splinters.

Coughing hard, Sakura rose to her feet with narrowed her eyes. The remaining two shinobi left their hiding spots and surrounded her. In standoff style, neither of them made a move, eyes transfixed on Sakura and her movements, just as she was them. Her hair fell into her face, but she didn’t dare risk moving it out of her eyes, knowing that any small movement would have them on her instantaneously.

Neither of them had any piece of gear that gave her an idea of who they could be affiliated with. No headbands, so they were possibly rogue ninja. She had already delivered her package and was on her way home, if they wanted it, they would have attacked her earlier or stayed behind. No, this seemed like an unrelated reason, and Sakura couldn’t figure out what. They looked incredibly young too, maybe around 15 or 16 years old. Her heart twinged at that.

Times might have been considered peaceful because there were no large scale wars, but it didn’t mean that there was any shortage of missing nin. And it didn’t mean that there was any shortage of internal conflict either. The Great Shinobi Nations might be allied, but criminals and bandits would always exist, and so would conflict.

As sad as this truth was, it didn’t explain why she was their current target.

Deciding that she wouldn’t figure anything out by observing them anymore, and that she would much rather be at home then prolonging this battle any further, the Sakura in front of them crumbled, revealing herself to be an earth clone. The two ninja’s were alarmed, but were too slow to counter her attack as she descended from above and punched the earth between the two of them. Both lost their footing as the ground exploded once again into another crater, this one so great the trees surrounding them were uprooted and sent barreling into the ground.

Having jumped away from the wreckage the moment her fist touched dirt, Sakura stared down from her perch on another tree a safe distance away, watching as the remaining two young shinobi struggled to get out of the giant mess and rubble.They pulled themselves out onto flat ground and promptly collapsed. Using the body flicker technique, Sakura appeared before them, making them both scramble to stand. She grabbed the one in front of her by the collar of his shirt and lifted him to meet her eyes.

“Who sent you?” Sakura threatened. “There's nothing nice about attacking someone on a beautiful day like today.”

“I’m not telling you a fucking thing.” He spat. The boy was trying to put up a brave facade and Sakura had to give him some credit, he didn’t look like he was going to budge.

Tossing him onto the ground in front of her, Sakura let out a sigh. “Listen, I just need some answers. It only fair, considering you attacked me-”

There was movement in the corner of her eye, and Sakura easily grabbed her assailant's hand as he lunged at her with a kunai. Disarming him, Sakura twisted his arm behind him and tossed him onto his friend.

“Please don’t make this harder than it has to be.” She said, growing more impatient. When they both looked at her with fierce wariness, and showed no sign of budging, Sakura let out a groan. “Fine, if you don’t want to tell me anything, maybe your other friend can tell me what I need to know.”

For emphasis, Sakura unsheathed her machete and made her way towards the unconscious shinobi currently in the other crater. She wasn’t actually going to do anything, but they didn’t need to know that. They were all young and not as much of a threat as she had initially thought, it seemed like they simply bit off more than they could chew. She just wanted information, and would let them go when she had what she needed.

“N-no! Don’t hurt him, we’ll tell you what you want to know!” The boy she just threw was on his feet. Good answer, Sakura thought.

“Aki, what the hell, don’t tell her a single thing!” His teammate admonished him.

Aki, Sakura guessed, gave him a pointed look, “This job isn’t important enough to lose Kikio!” He looked over at Sakura again, “I’ll tell you what you want, just leave him alone.”

Pleased, Sakura sheathed her knife and crossed her arms, clearly waiting for his explanation. Aki was clearly the weaker of the three; his sloppy kunai work pinned him as more of a strategic type. He was smart to give Sakura what she wanted, even though he didn’t have to know she was all talk.

“We were given this job anonymously, they said to kill the person of your exact description.” Aki said, while his friend looked away angrily. “W-we aren’t exactly well off, so we take what we can get when it comes to work.”

Sakura’s eyes softened but questions arose in her mind, who the hell would want her dead? Granted Sakura didn’t think she was nationally loved or anything, but she didn’t really have many enemies, that was more Sasuke’s style.

“And you have no idea who this person is, or why he’d want me dead?” Sakura asked. They both shook their heads as she expected and Sakura was left pondering.

Reaching into the satchel at her hip, Sakura tossed the two of them some provisions she always packed. She had extra and was almost home anyways, so she could spare some food for these poor, misguided children.

They sloppily caught the onigiri she had thrown and looked up at her with wide questioning eyes.

Sakura gave them a soft smile. “I know it's not much, but you seem like good kids, and it’d be unfair of me not to help you out when you so graciously helped me out.”

Aki’s teammate sputtered in response. “We tried to kill you!”

“But you failed, so all’s well that ends well.” Sakura smiled. “Thanks for the info, stay out of trouble now!”

Her smile turned into a frown as her she turned her back to them. Her mind swirling with possibilities. Only a couple times in her life had she been attacked for the bounty on her head. Her bounty was quite high, being a former student to the fifth hokage and one of the neo-sannin, but if that were the case here, surely Aki and his team would know she had a bounty.

Well it didn’t matter now, she was finished with her mission and ready to go home. She had some meat in the fridge that needed to be cooked soon, damn her for taking it out of the freezer just before she had a mission. Sakura jumped into the trees and left two very confused and one very unconscious teenagers behind.

Hopping from branch to branch once again with questions still in her mind, her thoughts were very abruptly stopped in their tracks as a shiver ran down her spine. The air around her grew cold and in her ear was a sound like a sharp hiss, like someone was sucking in air through their teeth. When she turned her head there was nothing there.

Feeling incredibly unnerved, Sakura shot off as fast as she could in the direction of Konoha, only, the moment her feet left the rough surface of the branch, her eyes became unfocused and the images around her began to swirl. She tried to level herself in the air so she would land on her feet but her body wouldn’t respond, and the speed in which she had propelled herself made it impossible to tell if she was heading towards the ground or not. Her stomach lurched and she felt incredibly nauseous. Pinching her eyes shut, Sakura braced for any kind of impact and willed herself not to throw up as she fell fast and hard.

No impact came, and as the nausea faded away Sakura risked opening her eyes again. Only, the sight before her was not the familiar trees of Fire Country, but complete and utter blackness. There was no ground, no sky, no trees, nothing. Just an inky void replacing the lush forest she had just been in. She couldn’t move her body and the darkness was so swallowing she didn’t know if she she even still had a body.

Just what the hell was going on? Was it a genjutsu? Had they cast an illusion around her without her noticing? Flaring her chakra, she attempted to dispel the illusion, but the sight before her remained the same.

Still moving at an incredibly high speed, Sakura had to close her eyes again as the wind whipped at her face and her eyes, drying them out painfully. The only sound she could hear was the air whistling around her as she propelled into who-knows-where. She didn’t have long to ponder because suddenly she could feel herself slowing down, as if someone had put the brakes on gently and she was coasting rather than accelerating.

With no more wind to violently lash at her face, Sakura tentatively opened her eyes. The blackness around her remained the same, but like a light at the end of a tunnel, before her was an opening of the same kind. It did nothing to illuminate the darkness around her and give her any indication of where she could be. Her body was still moving, and the light came closer, and closer, and closer, until she could no longer just see light, but a sky as well.

There was a hiss at her ear again and then she was thrust through the opening, and into the sky. Only, it was not the sunny blue sky of the beautiful afternoon she had just been, but the dark and starry sky of night.

A beautiful full moon shone above her, and the stars sprinkled the sky like glitter. It was an incredible sight and she found herself transfixed. And then as her body began to finally react to gravity again, she broke her gaze at the sky and whipped her head down, and the sight just about made her scream.

She was hundreds of feet above what seemed like a tree filled park, and stretched even further were buildings like Sakura had never seen. Densely packed together, and incredibly tall. She had never seen so many large building grouped together like that in her entire life. However as gravity continued to pull her earthward, Sakura couldn’t really dwell on the strange sight before her, and instead focused chakra into her legs and feet.

She wanted to scream as she plummeted towards the earth and her stomach felt like it was being turned inside out, but she couldn’t get her voice out. Sakura had never been this high up in her entire life. She had flown on Sai’s birds and rode on Gaara’s sand, but never without something to anchor herself onto. She prayed that the chakra in her feet and legs would take the impact this high and that she wouldn’t end up a splat on the ground.

She fell, and fell, and fell, the slapping branches cutting into her skin even as she tried to shield her body.

Finally, her feet met something solid again, and Sakura let the focused chakra travel from her feet and into the ground with extreme precision. Like water, the chakra dispersed over the ground and then disappeared. And Sakura, finally being grounded once again, fell to her knees and let out a brief shout, as if the screaming she couldn’t do in the air had finally reached her on the ground.

She sat there for a while, trying to gather herself. She was no longer in Fire Country, that much was certain. In fact, she didn’t know if she was even near Fire Country.

She had absolutely no clue where the hell she was.

Not only that but how the hell did she even get here? Did those those kids send her here? They really did seem like some young kids who didn’t know what they were doing. They certainly hadn’t been in any kind of shape to perform portal jutsus.

Kakashi’s voice rang in her mind, “Expect the unexpected.”

Portal jutsu’s were pretty unexpected, but after dealing with god-like aliens and the resurrection of dead enemies and allies in the war, maybe it should have been a little expected.

Pressing a hand to her chest where her heart was beating erratically, she willed herself to calm town, taking deep, controlled breaths.

“Sakura, you’re fine. You’ll find out where you are and then go back home. You’ll be okay.”

Talking to herself always helped calm her down ever since she had started studying under Tsunade. It helped with her memory when she would study, and made her feel less stressed. It was kind of like having somebody to talk to and listen to at the same time. It sounded a lot more pathetic when she put it like that and it was equally embarrassing, so she made sure no one knew. Tsunade and Ino were the only two people to have witnessed that display, and even that was too many people for Sakura’s liking.

Heart finally beating at a normal rate, Sakura rose to her feet a little shakily and began to set out in the direction of where she saw those large buildings. No better way to find out where she was then to do some recon. She spread out her senses and did her best to find any chakra signatures, hoping to find something familiar in this unfamiliar place. When she felt nothing, she chalked it up to the fact that it was late at night, and normal people would be at home.

As Sakura roamed through the forest area of the park, she came upon a path. Staying in the cover of the trees rather than walking on the path itself, Sakura followed it hoping to find the exit out of the park.

Coming near the end of the path, the sound of voices could be heard coming her way. Incredibly wary, Sakura jumped into one of the trees near her and spread out her senses once again, her own chakra masked. Sakura’s eyes widened. Despite the fact that she could hear people nearby, she couldn’t sense a single ounce of chakra.

Even civilians had chakra she could sense and yet the owners of the disembodied voices had no such thing.

Unsheathing her machete from its place on her lower back, she stayed crouched and kept her eyes trained on the on trail from behind the leaves. Whoever they were, she wouldn’t give them a chance to attack her, she would ambush them before they got the chance to even think about it.

Voices rising in volume, Sakura’s muscles tensed, ready any moment to attack.

The owners of the loud voices finally came into view and Sakura nearly let out a breath of relief.

It was two drunk men, bumbling down the trail laughing heartily without a care who they bothered with their noises. They stumbled down the path and away from the tree Sakura was in, arms over each other's shoulders both dressed in suits. She didn’t bother listening to their conversation as it was hard to understand anyways, and was simply relieved it wasn’t an enemy like she thought . Seeing them disappear down the trail in the direction Sakura had just come from, she hopped out of tree and onto the pavement of the park path.

The lamp posts illuminated her form and she quickly jumped atop it, and jumped from that lamp post to another in the direction the two drunk men came from.

As Sakura flew through the air, she spotted the tall, black, barred gate of the forested park. Two large, Doric, stone pillars were on both sides of the open gate, and connected to that were equally tall fences surrounding the park, also black with vertical bars.

Sakura landed on the flat top of the column and observed the strange street below her. There was a wide street, lined on both sides with wide sidewalks. The street itself was paved, something Sakura hadn’t seen anywhere but Moon Country. On the street itself were strange painted markings she didn’t recognize; did the markings give directions and make it easier for wagon drivers to avoid accidents? If so, it was incredibly clever.

The buildings on the street were different also, the were very cubic and contained unlike the buildings of Konoha. Konoha buildings would have all sorts of different shapes, but here it seemed very neat. Despite that, the street seemed both unfamiliar and familiar, as if her own village’s architecture had simply been upgraded. It confused Sakura. How could a street be so different yet also so familiar.

She spotted a couple of restaurants, some with their lights on, still bustling, and others with their lights off, clearly closed for the day. Maybe it wasn’t quite as late as she first thought. Reading the signs of all the buildings gave her no help, and she still didn’t have a clue where she was.

Leaping from the column to the roof of one of the buildings, Sakura went in the direction of the incredibly large buildings she could see in the horizon. From her experience, large buildings always indicated importance. Though it might be dangerous to approach such buildings in case of strong shinobi, it was probably her best bet in order to gather information.

Sakura just hoped that whatever she found out, she would like.

* * *

 

Things had been rather hectic lately, Kisuke thought as he finished up his paperwork for the day. With Rukia being a constant customer since she had given Ichigo Kurosaki her powers, his otherwise slow and (questionably) peaceful life has been a little busier. The shop didn’t get very many customers, or, any really. There’d be an occasional human who would battle with their curiosity and want to know what his shop sold exactly, but other than that it was barely a business. Often the only people he supplied were the occasional shinigami visiting the human world for a mission, or the Vizard.

Shuffling the papers and evening them out on the flat surface of his desk. He set them off to the side and stared out the entrance of the shop where Ururu and Jinta were sweeping. Jinta was slacking off again, and teasing Ururu too by the looks of it, watching as the boy pulled at her bangs. Sighing, Kisuke straightened up and cracked his back before turning and slipping his legs over the edge of the floor. Slipping his sandals on with a yawn, he figured he should tell Jinta to knock it off, he was always so needlessly mean to Ururu. It was about time for dinner anyways, maybe they would go out to eat tonight.

Rising from his sitting position, the hatted man spoke loudly as he addressed Jinta on his way through the door.

“Jinta, knock it off.”

He was heard loud and clear as Jinta nearly jumped a foot in the air. The boy whipped around quickly and Ururu rubbed her sore head, her bangs now free from Jinta’s clutches.

“It’s about time for dinner,” Putting a gentle hand on Ururu’s head, Kisuke gave her an equally gentle smile and ushered both of them inside. “I think we’ll go out to eat, why don’t you tell Tessai and we’ll head out? I’ll close the shop.”

Ururu nodded gave a tentative smile in return and ran inside along with Jinta. Kisuke yawned again and scratched at his beard.

A sudden, very large spike of reiatsu made him divert his attention towards the orange tinted sky. Just as soon as the reiatsu appeared, it disappeared without a trace. Frowning, Kisuke pulled at the fringe of his hat and pondered just what could cause such a spike like that. It wasn’t Ichigo’s reiatsu, which Kisuke sensed often during the week, that boy had absolutely no control. It wasn’t that of a hollow or shinigami either. The spontaneous way it appeared and disappeared was incredibly suspicious.

Maybe he would make a round near the area after dinner and see what he could find, but for now, dinner came first.

* * *

 Sakura sat dejectedly on a park bench, head hung sadly. She really wasn’t in Fire country anymore. She resisted the urge to yell, cry and break a street light in half with her bare hands. She settled for silent depression as she committed to a staring contest with the pavement.

How could this happen to her? She was just about to return home after that stupid, idiotic mission. She was going to cook the meat in her fridge and have a nice bath and then finally return to her work. Her work that Naruto just had to interrupt because he thought she wasn’t taking care of herself. Of course she was taking care of herself! She was a doctor! What type of hypocrite would she be if she didn’t practice what she preached?

It was only a couple all nighters. She was 25 years old, she knew her limits… really.

Okay. Maybe it was more than a couple nights, and maybe there had been a handful of days where she would forget to eat. She didn’t do it on purpose, she would just get really into her work, lives were on the line after all. It was important to conduct her research, and antidotes didn’t make themselves.

Sakura looked up at the sky and sighed, she really was a stubborn woman wasn’t she. Naruto was just trying to help, and she would admit that she had developed some pretty unhealthy habits. It was unfair of her to blame Naruto when he only had her best interests in mind, and not only that, it wouldn’t solve nothing now.

She certainly wasn’t in Fire country; in fact, it was clear she wasn’t anywhere the Five Shinobi Nations either. Sakura was in a place she wouldn’t be able to find anywhere on her map.

She was in a place called Japan.

* * *

  _Heading towards the great buildings with practiced grace and speed, Sakura hopped from roof to roof, barely sparing any glances down below. An occasional street light would illuminate her frame, but she would disappear too quickly for anyone to happen to spot her._

_A loud roaring sound made her whip her head towards the street below her, making her land sloppily. Losing her footing on the powerline she had just landed on, Sakura barely recovered by flipping and landing in a crouch in the middle of the street. There was roaring again, and incredibly bright lights, blinding her and then a sound like a horn being blared. It both frightened Sakura and made her hackles raise. Dodging out of the way of the thing barreling towards her, Sakura skid across the ground and landed in a heap on the pavement._

_Amidst the cacophony of noise, Sakura heard yelling and realized she had landed in the middle of a crowd. People were surrounding her and Sakura was so spooked she really didn’t know what to do. Voices were encompassing her, and she felt like she was about to have a panic attack. The initial adrenaline had worn of and the shock was setting in. This was bad, she was a ninja, she would be killed! But no matter what she tried, she couldn’t move her body._

_“Hey, are you okay?! Someone call 911!” A man was crouched next to her, worry clear on his face._  
_Sakura tried to focus on his voice, but found her focusing on the voices of the crowd around her._

_“She’s got cuts on her arms and face, what happened?”_

  
_“She just came out of nowhere and landed in the middle of the street, where the hell did she come from?”_

_“Is that a knife?”_

_“Her outfit is strange, and she has pink hair, is she a foreigner?”_

_The man put a gentle hand on her shoulder, “Can you understand me? Are you alright?”_

_Jumping at the contact, Sakura finally had control over her body again. Standing hurriedly, Sakura began to back away._

_“I’m sorry I-” She bumped into somebody behind her and grabbed the person by the shoulders, stilled them so they wouldn’t fall and then turned tail and ran down the street until she was far away from the crowd. Making a sharp turn into a dark alleyway, Sakura ran carelessly. Her foot caught onto something, causing her to trip into one of the trashcans with a great crash. Shielding her head as the stacked metal fell onto her body Sakura couldn’t help but think this was the worst day of her life._

_After the metal had stopped toppling onto her body, Sakura threw the debris of herself with a great roar._

_“Fuck this!” She yelled, fists clenched. Fuck recon, fuck stealth, she was pissed now. She kicked the already toppled trash can with great force, it hit the wall and crumpled like a soda can. There, that helped a little bit._

_“My, you’re quite energetic aren’t you?” A sudden voice spoke up from behind her. Alarmed Sakura jerked around, tense and ready._

_An old man was sat cross legged, back against the wall of the building across from her. He was thin and pale, and looked like he hadn’t eaten in days. His long wiry beard reached his reached his stomach, and his head was bald in contrast. His eyes were sunken, but kind. He gave her a humored look, stroking his beard. He was wearing a simple blue shirt, and pants._

_“I’ve never seen someone just shoot in like a bullet, and cause so much chaos in such a short amount of time.” The man chuckled heartily. Sakura’s face flushed. He had clearly seen her embarrassing display of tripping into a bunch of garbage cans and her loss of temper._

_“I-I’m sorry for disturbing you I-” Sakura’s words stopped right in their tracks as she spotted a chain coming out of the man's torso, it’s links coiling on the ground beside him._

_The man stopped stroking his beard and followed her gaze towards the chain in his chest. “Ah, so you can see me, interesting.”_

_Sakura was immediately confused. “See you? I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”_

_The man ‘hmm’d’, “I suppose it makes sense, you look very out of place young lady, with that pink hair and outfit. It’s like you just plopped out of another era.”_

_Sakura sat down in front of the man and mirrored him, sitting cross legged as well. “Why wouldn’t I be able to see you?”_  
_The man didn’t respond, still looking to be in deep thought. Sakura raised her voice. “Sir?”_

_This broke the man out of his thoughts and he looked sheepish. “Ah, young lady I’m sorry, it's just been so long since I’ve last talked to someone.” He gave her a toothy smile. “The concept of conversation has changed for someone like me.”_

_Sakura was so incredibly confused, it was engima after enigma for her today. “Someone like you?” She asked again._

_The man gave her a warm smile. “I’m dead, you see.”_

_Sakura’s eye’s widened but she stayed silent, even though thousands of questions were on the tip of her tongue._

_The man began to stroke his beard once again. “I don’t really know how long it's been, but I’ve been dead for quite a while,” He hummed in thought. “Long enough for them to tear down the old apartment building and build a new one I suppose.” He slapped the wall behind him for emphasis._

_“So that chain…” Sakura asked._

_“It's been here as long as I’ve been dead,” The man answered. “Though I never really found out why. It’s shorter now than it used to be.”_

_He gave her a another humored look. “Young lady, you sure take things in stride don’t you?”_

_Sakura let out a nervous laugh and rubbed her neck. “Well, some things aren’t as surprising when you’ve seen some of the things I’ve seen.”_

_“I can only wonder what you’ve seen for a ghost like me to not be a shock.” His eyes twinkled with mirth. “But, the way you sped in here like the hounds of hell were on your heels makes me think that you’re a very strange girl.”_

_Her face grew hot as she looked over at the trash cans. “I’m sorry if I disturbed you.”_

_The old ghost laughed. “My, my, don’t apologize, it's been a long time since an old man like me has had the chance to talk to someone.” He gave her another toothy smile, “I’m Rikishi, it’s nice to meet you, young lady.”_

_Sakura returned his kind smile with one of her own. “I’m Sakura, it’s nice to meet you Rikishi-san.” She looked up at the night sky and then back at the kind old man._

_“If you don’t mind, could you tell me where I am?”_

* * *

Rikishi had been so kind, listening to her tale. He took it all with stride, clearly the passing from life to death had made him more accustomed to things not considered normal.

_“I’m sorry to say that you’re probably not in your world anymore.” Rikishi said with a somber look. “I’ve never heard of Konohagakure in my entire life.”_

_Sakura’s shoulders drooped sadly. “Where am I then?”_

_Rikishi gave her a sympathetic look. “You’re in a place called Karakuracho, in the country of Japan.”_

Japan. It was completely unfamiliar to her and yet so familiar to her.

_“In Japan’s history, we used to have shinobi like yourself, they were covert agents in the feudal era, but you’re saying that's not what you are?” Rikishi asked._

_Sakura shook her head. “I’m really not sure. I’m a shinobi definitely, and what you described sounds like exactly what we do, but I’ve never heard of Japan in my entire life.”_

_Sakura rubbed her temple. “What are the chances of there being history of shinobi here and in my world, both sharing similarities, and yet Japan isn’t one of them.”_

_“We also both speak the same type of Japanese.” Rikishi added, “Surely if you came from the past, the dialect would be different, yet here we are conversing normally.”_

_Sakura scratched the sides of her head in frustration and groaned. Rikishi went to go pat her shoulder, then stopped, remembering he was a spirit._

_“I’m sorry I can’t be much more help than that Sakura-san.” Rikishi admitted sadly._

_Sakura lifted her head up and gave him a smile despite her frustration, “Please don’t apologize Rikishi-san, you’ve been an incredible help. Without you I probably never would have found out where I was.”_

_Sakura had been incredibly lucky to have run into Rikishi, who was quite literally a kind soul. He had explained to her many things, like what a “car” was. When Sakura had described to him the thing that had almost hit her, he had to laugh his shock away._

_“You’re quite a trouble magnet aren’t you Sakura-san?”_

_Sakura had pouted but couldn’t help but agree, she really was wasn’t she?_

With a promise that she would come back after she found out more, Sakura had left the alleyway and walked down the street. Since finding out that the people here were regular humans, Sakura was no longer on edge like she had been before. It was kind of a relief actually.

Before leaving the alley, Sakura performed a quick henge, transforming just her clothes into that of civilian fashion and hiding her seal. The henge was that of a red, plaid shirt, dark jeans and some white running shoes. It would do until she could buy some actual clothes. She then sealed her belongings into a scroll, which Rikishi had watched in absolute fascination.

She… really didn’t know what to do with herself now. She had no idea how she would get back home, she didn’t know where she would go.

And that's why Sakura found herself sat on the park bench staring at the pavement. Never had she been at such a loss. As much as Rikishi had helped her, he unfortunately could not give her a place to stay or food to eat, being a spirit, and that was fine, she didn’t expect such kindness anyways.

Where should she start? Finding a way home wouldn't be easy, and Sakura doubted that inter-dimensional transportation was something she could just look up in a library and expect answers.

Switching from her sitting position to a laying down one, Sakura figured she might as well try and rest a little bit. She had been exhausted the moment she had arrived here, and desperately needed some rest. She'd just have a power nap and then figure things out afterwards.

Her guard was up as always, and if someone tried to pull anything, they’d regret picking Sakura as their victim. With her arm under her head, Sakura shut her eyes.

She would figure things out when she awoke.

* * *

“Sleeping out here at this time of night doesn’t seem very safe, miss, there's all kinds of bad people out there you know.” A man’s voice roused Sakura from the light slumber she had eventually settled into. Annoyed, Sakura prepared to retort as she opened her eyes. The retort got stuck in her throat as she found the form of a complete stranger hovering over her.

Bolting upright, Sakura began to cough, choking on her words. The man jumped back in surprise, just barely avoiding collision.

He held out his hands in apology. “Ah, sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, are you alright?”

Sakura wiped the side of her mouth once she stopped choking and gave the stranger a look over. He was quite a tall man, dressed in a large, dark green haori, green shirt and pants, wooden sandals and a white and green striped bucket hat. If Sakura was being honest, she had never seen so much green in her life. He had pale blond hair, and chin stubble. She couldn’t make out his eyes as they were shadowed by his hat.

Honestly, he was very…

“Suspicious.” Sakura voiced out loud, giving the green stranger a wary look.

The green stranger flinched and gave a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his head. “S-suspicious? That’s quite harsh don’t you think?”

Sakura narrowed her eyes. “A woman wakes up from her place on a bench in the middle of the night to a man leaning over her while she sleeps,” The man laughed nervously. “That's incredibly suspicious, don’t you think?”

Of course Sakura knew he hadn’t done anything, she was always aware of her surroundings even as she slept. What kind of shinobi would she be if she couldn’t do that much? But who knew what his intentions were, all around, this man seemed incredibly suspicious.

“I really didn’t do anything! My intentions are completely pure, I swear!” He waved his hand back in forth, nervously. “I was simply curious why a young woman like yourself would be sleeping on a bench of all things, that's very dangerous you know.”

Sakura’s eyes were narrowed as she regarded him. Seeing this, the man outstretched his hand. “I’m Kisuke Urahara.” He gave her a smile, as if this was a completely valid way of making someone trust you.

“Sakura Haruno.” Sakura responded, seeing no harm in giving out her name. It wasn’t like he could find out where she lived. In fact, if he could find out where she lived from just her name, she’d kiss him. She didn’t shake his hand.

Urafura lowered his hand when he saw her make no move to shake it, and stroked his chin in thought. “Sakura Haruno, huh, your parents must have had a wacky sense of humor.” Sakura bit her tongue in an attempt to not growl out loud.

Who the fuck was this guy?

Her annoyance was clear on her face and he backtracked again, waving his hand in defense, “I mean, you dyed your hair to fit the aesthetic didn’t you? I commend you for your dedication.”

Suddenly very self conscious about her hair, Sakura grabbed a lock and pulled on it nervously. In a small voice she said, “...It’s natural.”

He stopped his flapping and rubbed his chin, shock clear on his face, “Is that right? Those are some interesting genes you got saddled with.”

“...Well my father has pink hair, and his side of the family is known-” Sakura stopped herself in the middle of her explanation. Why was she explaining anything to this weirdo?

"Never mind. Have a good night."  Standing up, Sakura gave a small bow, and then began to walk away.

“Ah, wait, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you off!” Urarara trailed after her and Sakura clenched her fist, if this fool got any closer to her…

“I wanted to ask if your home is nearby, I really meant it when I said it’s dangerous out here; it's definitely no place for a pretty lady such as yourself.” The hatted man said.

Sakura stopped for a moment and peeked over her shoulder. He seemed quite serious, and it only made Sakura more suspicious. She walked away faster.

"Ah! Wait!" He reached after her.

“Oi, the owner is pretty stupid isn’t he?” A boy's voice directed Sakura’s attention back over to the suspicious man, where a young red-headed boy and a dark haired girl were stood, along with a very tall, dark skinned man with cornrows and glasses. The young girl nodded her head in agreement, and Urufura looked incredibly hurt.

The tall man had a bag of takeout in his one hand, and he approached Sakura, bowing lowly. “I apologize for the Boss' behavior, please allow me to walk you home, it really is late, and it's no place for a lady like yourself.”

Sakura bristled a little, because she was completely capable of taking care of herself, but, ah - she supposed it wasn’t like they knew that. The tall man seemed very polite and kind, and from what she could tell, he must work for Ururaru, or whatever his name was.

Sakura waved him off, “Ah, really it's okay you don't need to apologize or walk me home.”

The man loomed over her, making Sakura sweat slightly. He really made quite an intimidating figure.

“Miss, then please allow us to phone you a cab.” He leaned closer to her.

“Ah no, t-thats-” Sakura stuttered, she didn't even know what a cab was.

The tall man leaned closer, “I insist!”

“I-” Sakura really didn’t know how to respond, this man was really very overbearing. She was struggling to come up with an excuse for him to leave her alone. It wasn’t like she had a home for them to drive her, or walk her to. “I’m sorry I-”

“I don’t have a home!” She said the first thing that came to her mind and immediately wanted to slam her head on a wall. What type of dumbass excuse was that? It was so far from the truth that Sakura thought every person and their dog could tell she was fibbing.

Urararu and the tall man both seemed intrigued.

“I m-mean, my… parents kicked me out because-” Sakura looked around nervously, “w-well because my dad remarried, and my… stepmom doesn’t like me… so…”

Sakura inwardly screamed, she was just digging herself further and further into this hole. She mentally apologized to her parents for throwing them under the bus. She was 25 now, she didn’t even live with her parents anymore!

The tall man looked shocked, and then crossed his arms and looked very confident in whatever decision he had just come to. “That's just so sad, young miss you have been dealt such an unfair hand, please allow us to take you in!”

Sakura was at a loss for words and so, just stood there silently, eyes wide. She never thought she would ever meet such a strange group of people like her own friends. 

“I- Ah, I really- I really couldn’t possibly impose-” She struggled to find her words. As suspicious as they were, they didn’t seem like bad people. Uraru was the most suspicious, but he also didn’t seem like a bad guy either.

Sakura thought it over, if it was actually a trap, she could just beat them up and leave. And it wasn’t like she had anywhere else to go…

Urarara stepped forward, sensing Sakura’s clear unease. He stroked his chin. “I know my first impression wasn’t so good, but I own a candy shop not too far from here, if you would like, we could house you until you find your footing?”

“But I can’t pay-” Sakura was interrupted by the hatted man, who held up his hand to stop her in her tracks.

“If that's the case, why not be our live-in housekeeper; work for room and board?” He said.

“...I’m just a stranger, why extend this offer to a stranger?” Sakura asked, wariness clear in her voice.

“Why indeed.” He answered cryptically, “Well, if you don’t want to that's fine too, I completely understand.”

He had completely ignored her question. Sakura bit her lip, she really had nowhere else to go, and she could only go so long on the provisions she packed, especially since she had given some away to the teenagers who attacked her. And she wasn’t exactly liking the idea of sleeping on a bench every night.

Shit, really what other choice did she have?

“I- Yes, if you wouldn’t mind having me.” She bowed.

Uraruha beamed, unfolding a fan in front of his face, “Excellent, Haruno-san, we’d be happy to have you!”

Sakura could help but feel in the pit of her stomach, that she had made a deal with a force she couldn’t possibly fathom.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura settles in to her new temporary home, and can't help but think of her own.

Sakura had a surplus of thoughts whirling through her mind as she followed Kisuke Urahara - whose name she finally properly remembered much to her embarrassment - and his companions to their home. Despite accepting the offer they had so graciously extended to her, she was still very apprehensive about the whole situation, with good reason.

Being in an unknown land made Sakura very wary and unsure; however, her confidence in her own ability and strength made her feel prepared for whatever was going to be thrown her way. It was frustrating how she would lean to one side, then the other.

_‘It’s like anxiety purgatory.’_ Sakura thought with humor. _‘So does that mean I’m halfway to hell?’_

Rikishi had given her a brief rundown of the country he had been born in after she told him about her own, or at least as much as he could without giving her an entire history lesson. He told she’d be safer here than her own world, and that took some weight off her mind.

_“I’m not saying you won’t run into trouble - because you seem like a trouble magnet - but you don’t need to worry about battle and strife like you did in your world.” Rikishi told her. “Not that you wouldn’t be able to handle it.”_

_He sighed, and stood up for the first time since she had met him. He didn’t look like he could hold himself well, with his weak looking body, but he stood firmly, and Sakura got the sense that he had been quite an imposing figure in his young age. It was strange how he, with his slightly translucent body, had such a strong presence._

_“I’m no expert on ninja warfare and battle,” He began, “but I’ve been in a war myself you know, and from the look in your eyes it's clear you’ve had your share.”_

_Rikishi put his arms behind his back and looked at the sky. “I’m not a religious type, but maybe this is God’s way of giving you a break?” He looked back down at her and winked. “But who knows, I’m just an old ghost who hangs around an alleyway.”_

Rikishi really was a sweet old man, and Sakura felt a sort of kinship with him. Both of them were separated from their friends and family, unable to interact with them. He hung around that specific alleyway, he told her, because his children and grandchildren lived there and it gave him a peace of mind to know how they were doing.

_“Are you regretful?” Sakura asked._

_Rikishi stroked his beard in thought, and then shook his head. “It's not that I’m regretful, it's more like I’m just not ready to go quite yet.”_

_He looked back at the building with a sad smile. “I’d like to see my grandchildren grow a little bit more, then I think I’ll be ready to move on,” He laughed suddenly, “but until that happens, I think I’ll haunt this alleyway a little bit longer.”_

It made Sakura sad to see Rikishi being separated from his family like that, but it was a fact of life. You lived, you died. Rikishi didn’t look so regretful that his life was over, but rather that he couldn’t see his grandchildren grow in the flesh.

He had extended a helping hand to her and asked for nothing in return. She would have to go back soon and chat with him again, he was great company and seemed like he was quite lonely. It was really the least she could do.

His words did bring forth questions in her mind, however, and her need to consume knowledge was rattling her to her core. She desperately needed to know more about the world she had found herself in. Obviously because she would need as much information as possible in order to return home, but it wasn’t just that. Sakura craved knowledge. She loved reading about things that confounded her and then understanding them. The situation presented to her was just that, a puzzle that she wanted nothing more than to learn about and solve.

She wanted to know about this world.

Did they have Hokages? Daimyo? What was the technology like? If ninjas existed in the past, were they like her? Did chakra exist? She had never seen a ghost before, was there a reason she had been able to see Rikishi, and no one else could? How did ‘cars’ work? Roads? What was modern life like in Japan?

Sakura desperately wanted to know.

And then there was that mystery....

Just how she had managed to travel to this world?

And who would want to send her to this world?

For Sakura, the circumstances surrounding her current disposition were confounding. Aki and his team had been hired to kill her, and Sakura felt it was not a coincidence that promptly after their battle, she had ended up in Karakuracho. She didn’t believe it to be the work of those boys. No, it was more likely their mysterious benefactor; but even if she believed it was their anonymous sponsor, it didn’t explain why or how she had ended up here. And if they had ordered the boys to kill her, why send her anywhere?

Just prior to the teleportation, Sakura hadn’t sensed a single presence aside from the the three boys. But there had been that strange, cold feeling and that hissing sound; it was so vivid that Sakura still felt the cold frosty feeling, and the animal-like hiss in her ear. It explained nothing, though, at least not with her current knowledge.

“Haruno-san, are you alright? You’ve looked like you’ve been quite deep in thought for a while now.” Sakura jumped at Kisuke’s sudden voice which tore through her reflection like paper.

“A-ah, I’m sorry! Were you saying something?” Sakura asked. Kisuke stared at her and hummed, tapping his folded fan against his chin. They were in a more residential area now, and Sakura noticed that the kids and the tall man had moved farther ahead. The red-haired boy kept glancing at her from over his shoulders as the streets lights illuminated them.

“I realized there might be a lot you would be worried about, I apologize if I frightened you earlier.” Kisuke said. He sounded sincere, but without getting a good look at his eyes, Sakura had a hard time reading him. This man was a whole other enigma Sakura just couldn’t decipher for the life of her.

Inviting her to live with him… he was so strange. Sakura figured she could chalk it up to kindness, and they had been kind to her but…

Kisuke Urahara was a strange and eccentric man. From leaning over an unconscious woman while she slept, to inviting that exact woman to live with him. But there was something else too, beneath his bizarre and odd surface, something Sakura couldn’t quite grasp.

Sakura prided herself in her ability to read people, but not this man. Even with what she could gleam from his exterior, every other part of him was unreadable. It intrigued Sakura.

Said enigma was staring at her, and Sakura realized he was waiting for her to reply.

Sakura waved her hand in front of her face, “No, that’s alright! I’m sorry if I’ve been rude, I really appreciate you taking me in even though I’m a stranger.”

Which was true, even with Sakura’s anxiety over the whole situation, she was really grateful. His first impression might have been bad, but he seemed like an alright guy. It looked like he was housing the two children as well, so he couldn’t be too horrible.

_‘A smart murderer would use children as a disarming tactic.’_ The irrational - or was it the rational? - part of her thought.

Sakura rubbed her temple, shoving her paranoia deep down.

Maybe lack of rest was making her this way? She only had a brief sleep earlier, and it had been on a hard bench. She had also been increasingly tired since she had been “displaced”, but she figured that was the stress of the whole situation crashing down on her.

“Anyone who would leave a beautiful young woman like yourself alone to face the harsh elements of the night would have to be heartless.” Kisuke replied with a cheerful smile that filled Sakura with the sudden want to kick him. She didn’t know how to handle those offhanded compliments. She blushed lightly and frowned.

“We have a spare room, and although Tessai usually takes care of housekeeping duties, I’m sure he’d be happy to have an extra helping hand.”

Ah that's right, she would be working as their housekeeper. Sakura didn’t quite quite know how to feel about that. Truth be told, she was quite a messy person. For the most part she kept places tidy, like her work area. Her apartment on the other hand... She would get distracted with work or personal projects often and would neglect certain cleaning duties for a while. She couldn’t remember the last time she had used the vacuum. It was probably gathering dust in her closet, ironically. She could only hope she did a good job, especially if she was earning her keep like Kisuke said.

Sakura slipped into her polite tone, dipping her head. “I’ll be in your care.”

Kisuke stared at her for a moment before diverting his attention forward, tapping his fan against his chin once again. “We’re happy to have you, Haruno-san.”

Neither of them spoke after that, continuing down the street in silence. Sakura hung back slightly, lost in her thoughts once again.

_‘I wonder how long it’ll take before they realize I’m gone.’_ Sakura thought, thinking about Naruto and her friends. _‘Naruto will feel incredibly guilty; I wish i was there to tell him it's not his fault.’_

Her chest panged at the thought of her friends and parents; she was already homesick. Sakura didn’t know what she’d do without Ino and Naruto to liven up her days. The hospital too, she hoped, would be alright without her. She couldn’t help but imagine scenarios where everything went wrong simply because she wasn’t there.

Her thought process was broken once again when they made a turn into what Sakura had presumed was an empty lot. It made her hackles raise slightly before she realized it wasn’t empty like she first thought. The murderer idea was unfortunately a possibility in her paranoic brain until she was proven otherwise.

There was a house, quaint, two stories high with a blue shingled roof. It had large wooden shoji-style doors at the entrance, with a bell hung above them. Just above that on the second floor, there were wood paneled windows, which Sakura assumed would slide open from the inside.

There was a wooden shed to the right of the house and a white ‘car’ to the left. She assumed it was a car, Sakura didn’t really know enough to be able to completely tell. And then right in the middle of the second floor was a large sign that read “Urahara Shop”.

It wasn’t a very intuitive sign was it? If Sakura hadn’t already known it was a candy shop, she’d assume they sold shady merchandise. The location wasn’t great either, being far from the street and blocked by the large apartment buildings surrounding it. Did they even have any customers?

It was… nice though. It was very reminiscent of the architecture in her world, and that familiarity made her feel slightly more at home. Her chest squeezed and she couldn’t stop the frown that settled onto her face.

It made her incredibly homesick.

“Welcome to my shop, Haruno-san, please make yourself at home.” Kisuke gave her another a chipper smile.

Sakura hoped she would be able to find her way back home soon.

* * *

 

  
Upon entering the shop, Kisuke asked the large man to take Sakura to her new room, wishing her a goodnight. He said they would give her a tour tomorrow since she must be tired. It was true. Sakura craved a real bed right about now. That bench hadn’t done her spines any kind of favors.

She unfortunately didn’t get a chance to learn the names of the children, because Kisuke ushered them to bed soon after.

The tall man, who introduced himself as Tessai Tsukabishi, led her to the room she would be staying in. He gave her a small tour on the way up, directing her attention to the toilet room on the bottom floor. Once on the second floor, Tessai pointed out that his room was further down the hall, and that if there was anything she needed or if she had any problems that she needn’t feel shy.

When they got to her room, he showed her where the futon was and how to open the seemingly broken window with a neat trick. He seemed like a quiet man, but despite his stoic exterior he was very kind.

Done with his duty, Tessai bid her a goodnight with a bow and added that breakfast would be at 8 am if she wished to join them, then left.

Listening intently as his footsteps grew quieter and further away, Sakura let out a big sigh. Finally alone, she dispelled her henge, revealing her regular ninja outfit and forehead seal.

Looking around, Sakura took in just how lucky she had been to have met these people when she did. Worries aside, they had been nothing but kind to her, giving her a place to stay essentially free of charge. She was wary still, of course, but if the situation took a turn for the worse it wasn’t like she couldn’t defend herself. Her intuition told her that they were good people, and her intuition was rarely wrong.

The room was quite spacious and quite beautiful. With the tatami floor and shoji screen doors, Sakura couldn’t help but think of home. There was a window ahead of her that faced the apartment building, which she opened just as Tessai showed her. She leaned on the frame and breathed in the fresh air, as the wind tickled her face. It wasn’t much of a view, but Sakura wasn’t one to complain.

Opening the closet and pulling the futon from the top shelf, Sakura began to prepare for bed. She was downright pooped.

She shed her clothes and gear and folded them off to the side of the futon, leaving her in just a tank top and shorts. Sitting on the top of the futon cross legged, Sakura took the scroll she had sealed her items into earlier and bit her finger, spreading the streak of blood across its surface. With a small “poof”, all of her items spread out in front of her and Sakura began organizing.

She pushed the things she would seal to one side, and the ones she wouldn’t seal to the other.

She would keep her kunai and weapons sealed; she didn’t need anyone finding things they shouldn’t if they were snooping in her room. The same went for her poisons and antidotes, she really didn’t want to have to try and explain that.

She munched on one of her protein bars as she continued to sort, realizing she was quite hungry. A lot of time had passed since her last meal in the morning.

She hummed as she worked. She’d seal her soldier pills too, oh dear, the explosion tags as well. Ninja life was quite dangerous, Sakura realized, when she had a civilian house and shop to compare it too. She’d have to be extra careful not to let anyone get their hands on her things. It was one thing to try and explain why she had weapons and poison, but she didn’t want anyone to accidentally explode either. She put her ninja clothes and hitai-ite in the ‘seal’ pile.

Sealing everything except her coat and extra pair of civilian clothes, which she she was glad past-Sakura had the foresight to pack, Sakura turned out the lights and settled into bed.

The sound of footsteps and general noises on the first floor of the shop lulled her into a drowsy state. It was quite nostalgic, and made her think of when she used to live with her parents. In her sleepy stated, she thought of home.

A lot of things had happened to her in such a short span of time, and to think it all happened on a mission where she was tasked with delivering mail. Sakura let out a snort. Just earlier that day she had been upset with Naruto for giving her a dumb mission, and now here she was, transported into a literal other dimension.

Naruto…

Thinking about her friends made her heart hurt. Ino would be so worried. Sakura was rarely late in returning from a mission, and if she was she would always send out word. Naruto would know things were wrong the moment Sakura didn’t return that day. But would there be anything he could do about it?

Naruto, even with all his godlike powers...

Sakura raised her arm and pressed it against her eyes. She had to find a way home.

Kaguya had been capable of dimension hopping, right? So it wasn’t totally out of the realm of possibilities…

… but Kaguya had also been a goddess who was so powerful that she was capable of creating her own dimensions. Sakura could only assume that the dimension she was in wasn’t a Kaguya one, unless Kaguya thought it would be a great hoot to create another secret dimension with cars with the express intent to hit Sakura with them.

Regardless, Sakura was not Kaguya or a goddess, so finding a way home would be harder than just snapping her fingers. Would she even be able to return to her world?

There were footsteps coming down the hall behind her, the sound of a door sliding open further down the hall and then shut. Then it was quiet again.

Sakura clenched her fists.

No, she **would** be able to go home. She would do as much research as she could, and find a way home.

She would go home.

Sakura drifted to sleep with that thought repeating over and over in her head.

* * *

 

When Sakura awoke, she did so with great disorientation. The sound of construction in the distance greatly confused her because there wasn’t any construction going on in her neighbourhood right now. Her eyes were blurry as she peeled them open, and all she could think about was the fact that her room smelled a lot like… grilled fish? That wasn’t right.

As her blurry vision began to crispen up, so did her mind. She remembered that she wasn’t at home like she thought, and was instead a resident of Kisuke Urahara’s candy shop for an indeterminate amount of time.

What time was it? Sakura rolled over to look at her alarm clock before remembering she had no such thing. Grumbling into the futon, Sakura laid there for a moment before lifting herself up push up style. Her body creaked as she planked, something she usually did at home when she woke up. Ugh, but she felt just awful though, and not because of the planking.

_‘Sudden interdimensional travel isn’t great for the body, it seems.’_ Sakura thought irritably.

Sitting up, she grabbed her folded civilian clothes, a beige jumper and white capris, and slid into them. It was a bit awkward only having one pair of clothes, but there was nothing she could do about it now. She would ask them if they had a washing machine she could use later. She reapplied a masking henge to hide her forehead seal.

Sakura slid her door open slowly and peered out into the hallway. No one was there, and Sakura concluded that all the residents of the shop were down below for breakfast. Plodding down the hallway quietly, Sakura combed through her hair with her fingers, trying to smooth out any snags and tangles. She would also ask if they had a shower she might be able to use too.

She heard some young voices arguing, and a voice she recognized as Kisuke’s telling them to settle down. She descended from the second floor, footsteps soft on the hardwood floor. As she approached the commotion, the voices rose in volume.

Sakura’s hand hovered in front of her as she contemplated opening the door. She felt hesitant about intruding on their meal. She was a stranger and an outsider after all. She didn’t have to contemplate anything for long, when the door slid open of its own volition instead. It gave her quite a fright as she yelped.

_‘Ninja reflexes.’_ Sakura thought embarrassedly.

Tessai stood in the door frame, towering over her. Sakura felt herself perspire a little. Was she interrupting?

“Good morning Sakura-dono, we were just about to have breakfast, would you like to join us?” Tessai inquired. Sakura swallowed slightly, “dono”?

She peeked around Tessai’s large form, seeing Kisuke and the kids staring at her. She met Kisuke’s eyes and quickly averted them.

“If that's not a problem?” Sakura questioned.

“Of course not!” Tessai sounded appalled at the notion. “I made enough for all of us, including you Sakura-dono.” Though his face was stoic, Sakura got the sense that he would be upset if she declined.

“Then if it's alright…” Sakura gave a small smile. Tessai nodded, pleased and moved out of the doorway so Sakura could enter. She looked for an empty spot, and sat on the floor next to the orange-haired boy and across from Kisuke. She looked at the table and noticed that there was indeed an extra meal set out for her. The meal in particular was grilled mackerel, rice and miso soup. The grilled mackerel explained the smell when she woke up.

A roof over her head, warm meals… they were too kind to her. It was so refreshing that Sakura didn’t know how to handle it. She was accustomed to rude and ridiculous behaviour, being a doctor. Even when she tried to help people, people who would come to the hospital with the express intent to get help, they could act very rude.

As much as Sakura loved her job, it was exhausting, and the amount of unapologetic and ungrateful people that came in everyday was astounding. Sakura found that civilians were more likely to get uppity with her than ninjas, but shinobi were their own can of exhausting. She sighed in remembrance of all the times she would have to corral her injured teammates back into their hospital rooms, with force, because they thought it would be a good idea to go gallivanting off like they hadn't just been mortally wounded.

Being a doctor is fun, Sakura thought with bitter humor.

When she used to take missions often, before she opened the Children’s Mental Health Clinic, there would be times where some of their clients would have to house them, and it often made for awkward situations when those clients didn’t want them in their own home. The shinobi they had decided to hire, to protect their things. It peeved Sakura a little thinking back on it.

So, such blatant kindness was a shock to her system to the point that Sakura was incredibly suspicious. Her ninja instincts told her to be prudent. Being poisoned was always an option, even if Rikishi told her no such thing would happen.

Seeing her hesitate, Kisuke tilted his head in askance. “Are you not hungry Haruno-san?”

Her stomach suddenly growled loudly and she received some humored looks in response. Sakura flushed in embarrassment and seeing that everyone else was eating, she figured it might be okay. She clapped her hands together.

“T-thank you for the food…” She picked up her chopsticks and followed her housemate’s examples.

It wasn’t poisoned. Good.

“Was your sleep alright?” Asked Kisuke good naturedly after Sakura had a couple bites.

“It was great.” She smiled, swallowing a mouthful. “It sure beat a park bench.”

She took another bite quickly, trying to cover up how much she regretted saying that. It probably sounded incredibly pitiful considering they thought she was homeless. Which was true, just... not in the way they thought.

“So how did you end up living on the streets like a bum?” The red-haired boy asked. Sakura choked on her rice and coughed, covering her mouth politely.

“Jinta-dono! Don’t bother our guest with such a rude question!” Tessai scolded the red-haired boy, Jinta, as Sakura now knew.

“I’m just asking her a simple question.” Jinta scowled at Tessai, head in his hand. He narrowed his eyes at Sakura. “The manager just brings in a weirdo off the street and you expect me to just accept that?”

“Jinta!” Tessai raised his voice again. Jinta flinched and then crossed his arms and looked away, glowering.

“Sakura-dono I’m terribly sorry for his behaviour, we’ve never housed a,” Tessai paused, as if searching for a word that didn’t rhyme with ‘thumb’. “stranger before.”

Sakura, now recovering from her coughing, put down her chopsticks. She suddenly wasn’t as hungry anymore. “...No that’s fine, it’s understandable that my presence here would be upsetting.”

“Ah, no Haruno-san, your presence here isn’t a problem at all.” Kisuke said, waving his fan in front of him.

Jinta huffed, “Can we even afford having another person living here?”

This time Kisuke stepped in, “Jinta, thats enough.”

A look of surprise crossed Jinta’s features but was soon replaced by a scowl. “Whatever, I’m not hungry anymore anyways.” He got up from his spot and left the room in a huff, leaving Sakura with feelings of guilt. Her stomach still rumbled hungrily, but she had no wish to continue eating the food in front of her.

It was not a great start for one of the children of the house she was living in to hate her. However, she understood all too well. She was a stranger whom they knew nothing about other then her sloppily crafted lie, intruding in their home. And from the sounds of it, her stay had not been discussed among the younger members of the family. She was something new and strange, and her presence meant change.

“Haruno-san, you’ll have to forgive Jinta, he’s immature, but he’s not usually this rude to guests.” Kisuke rubbed his chin with a sigh.

Sakura turned away from the door Jinta went through and directed an understanding nod at Kisuke. “No, I understand, but,” She looked down at the meal in front of her. “Maybe it would be better if I looked elsewhere for a place to stay if I’m going to cause trouble.”

Sakura really didn’t know where she would go if she did. She had no identification, no money, and definitely didn’t have any official documents. No matter where she went, people would be suspicious of her. She had really struck gold here, but she didn’t want to be a burden on them when they had already showed her kindness.

“You said your step-mom kicked you out, correct?” Kisuke asked after a moment. ”You don’t have any other relatives you could stay with?”

Sakura shook her head.

“Friends?” He added.

Sakura shook her head again.

“Then there's no reason for you to leave, is there?” He chirped, unfolding his fan in front of his face. “Jinta makes it sound like our house is about to be repossessed but I assure you we’re fine, and you staying here won’t be a problem.”

“But I-” Sakura began.

“If you’re still feeling guilty then why not start your work today?” He interrupted with a wide smile. Sakura opened her mouth to retort but couldn’t form the words.

“You can help me while I shop Sakura-dono.” Tessai finally spoke up. Sakura was shocked silent, and directed her wide eyes over to him. “It’d be best to make sure you have all the things you need if you’re going to be living here.”

“Yes, since you’ll be living here.” Kisuke added.

“Wait-” Sakura attempted.

“M-miss, I’ll help out as much as I can, since you’ll be living here.” The little girl supplemented softly, putting a hand on her bicep. Kisuke put a gentle hand on the child’s head.

“Isn’t it great that you’ve decided to live here?” He enthused.

They were really laying on the pressure weren’t they? What could Sakura say to change their minds when they had so clearly made their choice. ‘No’ was not an answer they were going to take, clearly.

“I guess it’s good then, that I’ll be living here.” Sakura supplemented with a small smile.

Kisuke flicked his fan closed with a slap. “Perfect, let’s give you a proper tour then shall we?”

After finishing off her cold breakfast, Sakura followed Kisuke around the shop. He began his tour by showing her the kitchen and the bathroom, and then led her to the storage room. He told her she didn’t have to worry about it since it was all shop items. He also added that she should avoid this room, since it was so unorganized it was actually a safety hazard. Sakura couldn’t help but be curious about just how messy it was.

He then showed her the laundry room, as well as their extra rooms, which were quite similar to the room where was currently sleeping in design. When they arrived upstairs, he pointed out where his room was and essentially told her what Tessai had told her the night before.

She didn’t have to do much, from what Kisuke told her. She really just did anything Tessai couldn’t get to, and Sakura was realizing this job was more for her benefit than theirs. She was touched honestly.

Shortly after her tour, she joined Tessai out on his excursion to the grocery store. She was greatly curious about how shops functioned in this world, but couldn’t help but narrow her eyes at all the cars that drove past her as they walked down the street. She had been given no reason to like those metal death machines, and she would continue to avoid them if she could help it.

Tessai’s stride was quite large and Sakura had to jog slightly to keep up with him. Curse her little legs.

When they arrived at the store, Sakura had been very confused on how to enter when the doors showed no obvious handle for her to grab. Thankfully Tessai approached first and the doors opened automatically, confounding Sakura greatly. She was glad she was standing behind him because the expression on her face probably would have been quite comical; suspicious too. She was finding it very difficult to blend in with regular society when things kept surprising her like this.

After getting over the shock of the doors, Sakura followed Tessai into the store. It was quite similar to her world’s stores with the lines of produce and items, only a lot whiter with shiny tiled floors. It reminded her more of the hospital then a grocery store, but she supposed that was just how it was here.

They went straight to the produce section where Tessai began to purchase ingredients for supper and the rest of the week. Sakura felt a little bit awkward, following him around so closely, but she really didn’t know what else she should be doing.

“Sakura-dono, what type of foods do you like?” Tessai suddenly spoke up. It took her by surprise since he hadn’t said much since they left.

“Um, anythings okay, I’m not very good with spicy things though.” She answered. “But please don’t change your meal plans on account of me.”

“I see, spicy things, hmm...” Tessai held his chin in thought, and looked to be contemplating things Sakura couldn’t quite understand.

They continued into the meat section and Sakura had a striking realization.

_‘Oh no… the meat in my fridge…’_ She thought mournfully. That was going to be a horrible thing to come home to.

The rest of the shopping trip went by fast. Sakura picked out the things she needed while she would be living there, things like toiletries and a towel or two. She watched in fascination as the woman who was ringing them up scanned their items. She recognized the cash register, but even it was more high tech than the ones she had in her world.

Once they left the grocery store, Tessai turned to her abruptly, giving Sakura quite a startle, and handed her some cash. Sakura nearly dropped it in surprise, not expecting to just be handed money.

“Wh- um?” She stuttered as she fumbled with the money. Tessai did not look perturbed by this whatsoever.

“I have some more stops to make, Boss asked me to give you some money so that you could get some clothing.” He took a look at the watch on his wrist and nodded. “We can meet back here in an hour.”

And with that, he walked off, leaving Sakura all by her lonesome. Sakura stared at the money in her hand with absolutely no idea what to do. How much money was this? She didn’t understand this currency at all. She hoped it wasn’t a lot, otherwise she would feel horrible.

Sakura was unbelievably confused, and she felt exceptionally lost. Tessai had just left her to her own devices. Maybe he thought she would be more comfortable shopping for clothes by her herself, and if that was the case it was quite thoughtful. Only…

She wasn’t a resident of this world so she didn’t understand a thing. She wished Rikishi was there to explain money to her because she kind of felt like crying all of a sudden.

Sakura looked around trying to mentally register the area she was in so she could remember where they should meet and then walked the opposite way of Tessai in hopes of finding a clothing shop somewhere.

Thankfully she did not have to look far before she caught sight of a clothing display in a big window across the street. Sakura looked at the street with irritation. She would have to cross the road that cars drove on. How was she supposed to get to the other side? It seemed dangerous if cars were just going back and forth constantly, how did civilians do this normally?

Maybe you just had to be quick? She was a ninja so being quick wasn’t an issue at all. Sakura looked both ways and tried to time when there were no cars coming either way, taking a step off the sidewalk. She went to go take another step when a large hand grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her back onto the sidewalk.

A car zoomed past her, and Sakura frowned. She would have made it had this person not interrupted her. She spun around to tell them off but stopped mid-sentence.

“That’s dangerous.” The large man warned. “You have to be careful.”

He was quite tall, easily above 6 feet with dark skin and short, wavy brown hair. He was wearing a brightly colored and patterned button up shirt and looked to be about Sakura’s age, maybe even older. And oh, he thought it was dangerous, so maybe she wasn’t supposed to cross the street that way.

“T-thank you, I didn’t realize.” Sakura flushed and bowed respectfully. The man looked at the money in her hands in confusion.

“Is someone chasing you?” He asked, looking worried. Sakura looked at the money she was cradling in her hands and back at the man. He must have thought she was running away from someone and that was why she was willing to jump into traffic.

“Ah, no, no one’s chasing me!” Sakura waved her hands, and then remembered she was holding the money and stuffed it sloppily into her pockets.

The man had a perplexed expression. “If you want to cross the street, you can cross over there.” He pointed towards a crowd of people who were all standing on the sidewalk. There were white painted stripes leading to the other side of the street in front of them, and as the cars slowed down and stopped, they began to cross.

Oh, that's how it worked.

“Are you a foreigner?” He asked, taking in her amazed expression.

She let out a nervous laugh and scratched her cheek. “I guess you could say that.”

“You speak Japanese very well for a foreigner.” He complimented her. Sakura couldn’t help the confused expression that crossed her face. Was there other languages? This world was strange.

Seeing her confusion, he tilted his head. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” Sakura waved away his worries, and then thought about the money in her pocket. “Actually, if it’s not too much trouble, can you tell me how much this is?” She took the money out of her pocket and held it out to him.

The man looked even more baffled making Sakura sweat slightly. The man took it from her hands hesitantly and flicked through it.

He looked completely mystified.“There's 50,000 yen here.”

“...Is that a lot?” Sakura inquired. The man handed it back to her.

“It's a lot to just be carrying around with just your hands.”

“Oh…” Sakura looked at the money in her grip. She very much did not want to use this money now that she knew that. Wasn’t Jinta just saying that they couldn’t afford to feed her too? But then Kisuke did say they were okay… She really didn’t know who to believe. She really didn’t want to be eating their food and spending their money too.

“Will you be okay by yourself?” He asked, concern flittering over his features. Sakura looked up and waved him off.

“I’ll be fine, thank you for the help!” She was really lucking out with all the kinds strangers she was meeting. She bowed again, then turned around and ran over to the crosswalk he had pointed out, leaving a very mystified man behind.

“Chad, you coming?” A blonde boy called over from a short distance away. The man in question turned in the direction he had been called from.

“Sorry, I’ll be right there.” Chad said, making his way over to his friends.

“You’re always helping people out, huh.” The blond boy laughed, patting him on the back. He then looked over at another boy. “Sorry dude, what were you saying about a cockatoo?”

“Cocka-tiel.” The bald boy corrected.

Following the two, Chad made one last look over his shoulder.

What a strange woman. 

* * *

 

Sakura was extremely confused as she stared at the price tags on the articles of clothing hanging from the racks. She had no concept of how expensive they were other than the general idea that 50,000 yen was considered “a lot”. She was considering asking the worker there, but was worried they might try to pull one over her in the name of sales.

She compared two price tags to each other and let out an anguished noise. She had absolutely no clue what either of them actually cost. Was it expensive, cheap? She was tempted to storm back to Kisuke and throw the money in his face.

Maybe she would just head back to the shop and call it a day, and just tell him that everything was too expensive. Then she wouldn’t have to pay for anything and waste his money.

She also only had one pair of underwear.

She held her head in her hands in torment, not even noticing the other shoppers giving her a wide berth. Fuck it, she would buy a couple things and just pray it all come to a small number. If what she had was 50,000 yen, then she just had to spend less than that, right? She grabbed a couple things she thought looked nice, and tried them on. She put a couple back when they didn’t fit, but kept the majority.

She grabbed an armful of underwear because you can never have too much, and made her way to the checkout counter. She plopped everything onto the counter, and crossed her arms, tapping her foot as the cashier rung up her items. She was completely unaware of the frightened looks being sent her way as her mood had turned noticeably sour. If she never had to buy things again in this world, she would be very happy.

“T-that’ll be 13,560 yen yen, ma’am.” The cashier stuttered, bagging her items. Sakura let out a big sigh of relief and just handed the woman all her cash. The cashier fumbled with it, not quite expecting to be handed such a large sum, putting it in the register and then handing her back the correct change. “T-thank you for shopping with us.”

Sakura nodded and took her items, stuffing the remaining money in her pocket on the way out. Now she just had to meet up with Tessai and go home. She made her way across the street, now confident in her ability to cross roads. The ins-and-outs of it wasn’t something she still fully grasped, but as long as she just followed everyone else's example she’d be fine.

Sakura made a face and looked into the bags holding her newly purchased items. She still didn’t know how to feel about buying clothes using money she didn’t earn herself. There were a couple of shirts and a pair of pants, but the majority was underwear. As much as the idea of using some else's money bothered her, the idea of only having one pair of underwear bothered her even more.

_‘I don’t know how I can possibly repay Urahara-san and Tessai-san’s kindness.’_ Sakura thought glumly, spotting a fountain near their meeting spot and she taking a seat. ‘Even if I had money it still wouldn’t be enough.’ It wasn’t like she could get a job.

_‘Hi!’_ Sakura played out in her head. _‘I know I don’t have any identification, but would you like to give your money to me anyways? What? A resume? Of course I have one. Yes, I know it says I have 13 years of experience as a ninja but I can explain.’_

She let out a great sigh. There was so much she had to learn about this world and its workings if she ever wanted to blend in. It was a skill she would have to acquire if she ever wanted to return home

Patience was key here, Sakura thought, just because she wanted to return home soon didn’t mean that she could. She would have to wait for the clues to come to her, and then maybe she could get a start on returning to her world. In the meantime, she would have to deal with the fact that she was here. She worried about the hospital, but her medic-nin were trained by her specifically, and she was a damn good Doctor if she was allowed to brag a little bit. They would be able to handle anything that came their way.

Sakura thought back to what Rikishi said. Maybe this was a higher beings way of giving her a break? She didn’t actually believe that, but maybe she should just enjoy the time she had here rather than mope.

She spotted Tessai coming down the street and stood, making her way over to him.

Thats right, she would make the best of it.

* * *

 

When Sakura and Tessai returned to the shop, they found the two children out in the front sweeping. Or one, rather. Jinta wasn’t, and Ururu tried to coax him to do his work but to no avail. Tessai approached Jinta from behind, who didn’t notice until Ururu pointed over his shoulder. Jinta let out a shrill scream and Sakura couldn’t help but expel a huff of a laugh at what was clearly a daily reoccurence.

She stood there watching for a moment, before realizing she should take the groceries into the shop. It was a small gesture, but she could start her work by helping unload them.

She slipped by the three of them, sparing a small smile at Ururu whose gaze trailed after her, and entered the shop. She picked up some of the groceries Tessai had set down when he was intimidating Jinta and slid by the small shelves holding the merchandise. Sakura walked into the back and slipped off her shoes near the back porch, feet pattering on the wood floor. She tracked down the kitchen and did her best to unpack what she had into the right places.

Sakura opened the refrigerator and prepared to put some items in, only to find that the fridge was quite unorganized.

_‘Tessai-san seems like an organized guy, maybe he just never got to it.’_ She thought rolling up her sleeves. Well, this was the perfect time to make herself useful.

“Haruno-san?” She heard Kisuke call from down the hall. She turned her head to answer, but the air around her went cold and was definitely not a result of the open refrigerator she was crouched in front of.

A chill went down her spine quite suddenly, and Sakura felt a burst of...something appear in the distance. It didn’t feel like chakra or anything she was familiar with and it wracked her body to the core. Her head felt heavy, and her vision went blurry and it was she could do to just stay upright. Her limbs felt weak and a cold sweat was breaking out all over her body. She leaned against the fridge door, and hoped the cool air leaking out of the machine would help her recover from this ill feeling.

When the need to vomit finally disappeared, Sakura opened her eyes again. She took great big breaths and tried to lessen her headache by channeling chakra into her temple.

What the absolute hell was that?

“Haruno-san?” Kisuke called again, stepping into the room. “Are you in here?”

“I-I’m down here.” Sakura finally answered, regaining her composure.

Kisuke peered around the counter with a puzzled expression when he caught sight of her kneeling in front of the fridge. “It’s a little bit too early for a snack don’t you think?”

Sakura smiled wobbily. “I thought I’d organize a little bit, since it's the least I could do. Was there something you needed?”

Kisuke covered his face with his fan. “I came to see if you found everything you needed but... are you alright Haruno-san? You’re quite pale.”

“I’m fine, I just-” She shuffled in her spot and felt a familiar crinkle in her pocket.

“Ah, that's right!” Sakura stuffed her hand into her pocket, pulling out the money left over from her small shopping trip. “This!”

“This?” He questioned. Sakura stood up and held the money out to him.

“This.” She repeated. “You didn’t need to do that.”

“Hmm? I’m not sure what you mean.” Kisuke feigned ignorance and eyed the money, open fan covering his face aside from his eyes.

Sakura sighed, exasperated. This man. “You’ve already given me a place to stay, free of charge, you didn’t need to pay for my things too.”

Kisuke made no move to take the bills and coins from Sakura’s extended hand. Between his hat and fan, Sakura couldn’t make out what expression he was wearing.

He snapped his fan closed and beamed at her. “Why, you work here now, so it's not like you're staying here for free. Besides,” he said with a grin. “It's my responsibility as the owner of this shop to make sure you’re stay is as comfortable as possible.”

Sakura’s eyes widened and her stomach did a flip, leaving her with feelings she couldn’t quite describe. Was it guilt?

“Why…?” She muttered, an expression of distress crossing her features. Kisuke looked confused but before he could ask her what she meant, the expression was replaced with a scowl.

“Regardless,” She said, putting the money on the counter and turning her back to him. “It’s really not necessary.”

Sakura kneeled in front of the fridge and continued to sort the items. That was probably his cue to leave but instead Kisuke stared at her turned back and hm’d, noticing her bag of recently bought clothes near his feet. Using his cane, he opened the flap revealing the contents within.

“Well, I suppose having more underwear couldn’t hurt, could it?” He said, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. Sakura lurched at that statement, hitting her head on one of the refrigerator shelves and letting out a sharp hiss of pain. Kisuke winced at that. Whoops.

She spun around and glared at him, rubbing her sore head. “My underwear is none of your business!”

“Hmm,” He rubbed his chin in fake thought. “It was my money that bought it.”

“Oh, now it's _your_ money, how convenient.” Sakura remarked with a scowl, still nursing her tender scalp. That hurt more than it should have. “Well, if that's the case, then please by all means help yourself to all my tampons too.”

Kisuke made a choking noise and started coughing, clearly not expecting that response. Sakura raised her eyebrow at that. He picked the wrong woman to tease if he wanted to embarrass her with mentions of her underwear. Sakura hadn’t spent all those years as a doctor doing gross doctor things to be demure.

“I didn’t think I was going to get interrogated over my purchases.” She gave a dramatic sigh and pantomimed opening a bag, a look of sorrow crossing her features. “Urahara-sama, please, it's all I have to feed my children.”

“Underwear?” He wheezed, still gathering his bearings.

Sakura couldn’t stop herself from laughing aloud at that. “Oh, I didn’t tell you? My favorite pastime is just consuming underwear by the handful.” She stood with her hand on her hip and shook her finger as if she was scolding him. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you to screen your employees?”

They stared at eachother for a moment before they both burst out laughing, Kisuke slightly more refined, cackling behind his hand while Sakura leaned on the counter for support. She wiped the tears out of her eyes. It was so dumb, but she felt a little bit better now.

She sniffed a little as she regained her composure, catching sight of the money on the counter. She smiled sadly. “I really do appreciate everything you’re doing for me, and I wish I could pay you back.”

Kisuke sobered up quickly at her sudden seriousness and looked at the the pile of money she was staring at. He finally picked it up, and Sakura deflated in relief, thinking that was the end of it. Instead of pocketing it, however, he approached Sakura and grabbed her wrist, placing the bills and coins into her open palm. He curled her fingers around the money and held her hand closed. She frowned and opened her mouth to argue, but Kisuke placed his closed fan over her lips.

“I knew what I was doing when I asked you to live with us, so,” He looked quite serious as he told her this. “The least you can do is respect my wishes as the owner of this shop.”

With that, he swished out of the room, leaving Sakura with a lingering warmth in her hand and in her chest. Despite how much Sakura wanted to chase after Kisuke and refuse the large sum in her hand, she couldn’t find the energy to do so.

The household she had found herself in was an odd one for sure, but not in a bad way. It reminded her of her own home and friends who were oddballs in their own right.

She had worries of course, she always had worries, but Sakura thought that maybe, just maybe, she would fit in here after all.

She stared out in the direction of the presence she felt appear in the distance just minutes before and frowned. There were mysteries though, and she’d be damned if she didn’t figure them out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 50,000 yen is about $450 and 13,560 yen is about $120. 
> 
> Urahara may be a greedy merchant, but also I can see him having no concept of what “Too much money” is because he’s ridiculous. He’s definitely a mysterious force in Sakura’s life right now, she’s having a real hard time wrapping her mind around his character. He has his reasons too, of course.
> 
> Yes, talk about her underwear, Kisuke, you’re a genius. Thats peak romance right there.
> 
> Thank you by the way, to all of you who have favorited, followed, and kudos'd this fic! It’s been so long since I’ve written something, and this is the first time I’ve written something quite seriously with the intent to finish it. So, the fact that anyone is interested in this silly little fic of mine means a whole lot to me.
> 
> Thank you so much, I hope I continue to not disappoint you all!


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura stared at the ceiling in thought from her place on the floor of her room, arms behind her head. The tatami was hard under her back and not the greatest comfort, but she didn’t mind. She had just finished her duties for the day. Duties which included dusting and… dusting. Two days had passed since she had began living at the Urahara shop and her workload had not extended past minor cleaning.

After breakfast that morning Sakura had awkwardly hung around as the rest of the shop began their regular chores. The kids heading into the back and Tessai into the kitchen. She offered to do dishes but Tessai politely refused. She was fortunately able to catch Kisuke before he too disappeared into his daily ritual. He was able to give her the option of dusting but not without some deep thought. He seemed unsure about what she could do around the shop too, and that wasn’t very reassuring to Sakura.

It wasn’t exactly a task that took long, especially considering the shop didn’t have much to be dusted. Just a shelf here and there and some old china. It was quite… boring. To be frank, cleaning sucked. This is why her apartment was such a huge mess all the time. The ninja life had ruined regular activities for her... was her excuse; her mom would disagree wholeheartedly with that sentiment. Sakura had always been quite lazy when it came to chores.

It wasn’t like Sakura was the messiest person on earth; her mother had clearly never seen Naruto’s disaster of an apartment when they were children.

She was adjusting to her situation slowly but surely, but still couldn’t shake the awkwardness that was living in a stranger's home. Both Tessai and Kisuke had told her to make herself at home, but she wasn’t really the type do so, even with express permission. After her work had finished, she had excused herself to her room and began to think up an action plan.

If Sakura ever wanted to get a better grip on her surroundings, her best bet was to find a library and gather information. It would give her a more in depth hint about her current situation and though Rikishi had been helpful, it would certainly be a great help to have exact sources. The fact that this world too once had ninjas made Sakura incredibly curious. There might just be a connection there, but she wouldn’t really know until she had the proper information at her disposal.

A gentle breeze swept across her face and brought her out of her thoughts momentarily. She turned her head to look over at her open window and stared at the grey exterior walls of the apartment across from her room. The temperature was quite warm, so she opened her window to let in the wind, hoping for a breeze of this exact coolness to grace her.

It seemed to be summer or nearly summer, the same season Konoha was experiencing as well. That fact made a link in her mind and her brain concocted theories, none of which were very helpful or even sensible.

Since arriving here, Sakura only assumed she was in a different world, but she had no way of telling for sure. It was only a theory based on the evidence that had been presented to her so far; none of which was substantial. There were numerous possibilities that Sakura really wasn’t equipped with handling currently; like time-travel, which sounded insane but not necessarily impossible.Thanks to Kaguya her mind had been opened to many possibilities she once thought absurd. Currently however, there were just too many unknowns, and her brain was grasping at straws in its attempt to connect anything it was learning to her situation.

So far Sakura had two facts. One, she hadn’t felt an ounce of chakra from anything since she had landed here, and two, the seasons were the same. This was not… an incredible discovery. Though the lack of chakra was disconcerting.

It hadn't proved to be an incredibly intricate genjutsu either, as she had already attempted to dispel it with no success. It peeved her that she hadn't thought to try that earlier, but it really didn't matter in the end because her current situation was not a genjutsu.

Sakura wished it was. At least she knew how to deal with genjutsu.

She closed her eyes again, basking in the coolness the breeze brought with it. Truth be told… her current situation had her panicking, but not as much as she expected. Maybe it was due to her experience with traumatic and seemingly impossible things taking place on a daily basis? This was most definitely not the vacation Naruto had intended her to experience.

She had been working so much as of late, hence why Naruto had sent her out in the first place. So, just laying down and thinking was a very novel experience. Right now it was clear that the Urahara shop wasn’t direly in need of her services, and quite honestly she welcomed this. There were lots of things that she had to think about.

There was a pained sounding shout from outside and Sakura sat up in alarm, body reacting to the signs of danger on autopilot. What was happening- An attack? Had her enemies caught up with her finally? She frantically crawled over to her window and stuck her head through the frame, paying no mind to the ruckus she was making. Sakura tried to maneuver herself so that she catch sight of what was happening at the front of the shop with little luck. The only thing that was visible was the blue car they owned. With her head out the window, she could hear the source of the shout clearly.

“Best out of three!” She heard Jinta call out.

“You said that last time, but we just played until you won…” Ururu responded. Sakura could almost hear Jinta’s hackles raise.

“Don’t question your superior!”

Sakura deflated with relief when she realized the shouting had been over a game of rock-paper-scissors and not impending danger like she had thought. She was still very tense about all of this, clearly.

Stilling her quickly beating heart, she folded her arms and placed them on the window frame, breathing rhythmically. Jinta and Ururu’s game of rock-paper-scissors made her thoughts venture towards the Urahara household, and Sakura pondered the two children’s connection to Kisuke. She rested her chin on her forearms and hummed. She had been wondering since she had first met the lot, but they didn't seem like they were his children, at least not biologically. Adopted maybe? Regardless of their connection, they helped out with the shop and lived there as well.

Sakura wondered about the bossman Kisuke himself as well. He was quite… eccentric. He was friendly, a little bit too chipper and kind of inappropriate. Sakura then thought back to when he had been leaning over her while she had been sleeping in the park two days ago and rubbed her face. Inappropriate might be an understatement.

He did seem very intent on making Sakura feel welcomed, which made her think he seemed like a decent person despite those things. She was still wary of him of course, but really, only time could say, and it looked to Sakura that she would be stuck here for quite a while.

He was odd, but odd didn't necessarily mean bad, Sakura thought, thinking of her own friends. Ninjas were definitely a big case of “weird” themselves, which, considering their job, made sense. Being a ninja was a traumatic experience that no one could have possibly prepared her for, so it wasn’t unsurprising that most ninja would come out of those experiences more unhinged than not.

And sometimes, Sakura thought. You just have a clan that has ninja dogs.

It made the whole concept of this world of civilians even more fascinating to Sakura. Without ninjas it made her wonder what their military looked like, and if they even required military in the first place. Surely this place wasn't free of war, Rikishi had even said so. In Sakura’s mind, she could barely imagine such a place ever existing.

The strangeness of ninjas, the strangeness of this world; the Urahara shop was definitely cut from a similar cloth of oddness.

Tessai was an intriguing man, with his incredible stature and stoic personality. He was also very polite which contrasted those traits quite interestingly. He had been nothing but kind and helpful to her since she had arrived.

Jinta on the other hand, had not been so kind or polite. He reminded Sakura of a slightly angrier, young Naruto. There was an impulsive brashness he had about him that screamed “Naruto” to her. But Jinta also seemed astute and more observative than Naruto had ever been. He seemed to be a bit of a bully, which didn’t make her very happy. He also hated her, which was just great.

Ururu, whose name she learned from Kisuke, reminded Sakura of herself when she was young. Quiet and shy, but  
also polite. Sakura hadn't really seen Ururu that much to say much more, but she was a cute kid. She didn’t seem to  
hate Sakura, which was always major plus.

Sakura rolled her head so her cheek was resting on her forearm instead. A gust of wind blew again and she closed her eyes as the breeze ruffled her hair. She slowly opened her eyes and stared vacantly at the apartment wall.

She too, had been thinking about the thing she had felt yesterday. It was strikingly similar to the feeling that had overtaken her when she had been transported. That weakening and queasy feeling.

Yesterday though… had be different in a way. A way she couldn’t exactly pinpoint. it had almost been like a presence. Like someone had appeared in a distance and the sheer existence of that presence had been enough to crush her. It left her winded and scared, because she had never felt something so intensely intimidating since Madara and Kaguya. It was so similar to the powerful crushing pressure of chakra, and yet not at all. Even thinking about it had her shivering in memory.

There was more to this world than just cars and weird money, that was certain. Ghosts with chains and suffocating presences said a lot, but unfortunately not enough for Sakura to know just what the hell was going on. As a ninja she would do her best to expect the unexpected and try to remain on guard as best as she could though. It was just like her to find trouble wherever she went; she just hoped she could keep her temporary landlord and his shop uninvolved.

There were light footsteps on the floor indicating a presence and a knock on Sakura’s door.

“E-excuse me…” A soft voice called from the other side. Sakura sat up and blinked at the sudden presence.

“Yes?”

The door slid open to reveal the shop’s young employee, Ururu. She nervously fidgeted with the hem of her skirt and peered at Sakura through her bangs. “Kisuke-san wants to talk to you…”

Sakura looked back out the window, and realized that the children had long since disappeared back into the shop. She had kind of dozed off while deep in thought and more time had passed then she realized.

“Thank you, I’ll be down in a moment.” Sakura inclined her head politely, and smiled at the girl. Message delivered, Ururu nodded and made a movement to shut the door. Before she could, Sakura motioned with her hand for her to wait and the girl paused in her action. She looked to Sakura in askance.

“You’re Ururu-chan right?” Sakura asked, standing up from her place by the window. She approached the young girl, who only nodded at her question. Sakura bent over and extended her hand in front of her and gave Ururu a kind smile. “I know you already know who I am, but I’m Sakura Haruno, it's a pleasure to meet you.”

After a moment of hesitance, Ururu tentatively placed her hand into Sakura’s larger one. Sakura grinned in response, giving her a firm handshake. “Please teach me well.”

“Teach?” Ururu asked, releasing Sakura’s hand with a look of puzzlement.

“Well, since I’m technically a new employee here that makes you my superior.” Sakura gave Ururu a wink. “I’ll be in your care Ururu-senpai.”

Ururu stared at Sakura with wide eyes, and then looked down at her feet, blushing slightly.

“Shall we see what Urahara-san needs then?” Sakura asked and Ururu whipped her head back up, suddenly remembering what she had been tasked with.

They both left her room, Ururu plodding ahead of Sakura, steps soft against the floor. Though she seemed shy, and almost uncertain in her speech, she had this controlled air about her. Upon further observation, Ururu was far more similar to Hinanta than Sakura’s younger self. Ururu seemed like she was a responsible little girl, and it made Sakura wonder just what events could have transpired in her life to make that so.

The young girl lead Sakura downstairs and through the dining area, opening the screen door to the entrance of the shop. Kisuke was there, sat on the floor in front of a desk where he looked slightly pensive. There were papers spread across the small surface, clearly forms of some importance. He shuffled the pages neatly and directed his attention to the two of them.

“Haruno-san! I need a big favor from you.” He chirped, flipping open his fan with an audible thwap. He thanked Ururu who stared between the two of them, and then ran back outside to rejoin Jinta.

“Was there something you needed?” Sakura asked, kneeling politely next to him on the tatami.

“Yes!” Kisuke turned his attention to his desk where he began to write something on a slip of paper which he then handed over to her. “Could you go to the store and grab me these supplies?” He asked.

Sakura looked at the listed items. They were all mostly construction items and made her think that maybe they were about to do some renovations.

“No problem.” She said, folding the paper into the pocket of her shorts after reading over its contents. “Is Tessai-san not around?”

Kisuke fanned himself and hummed. “He’s busy right now, and I thought you might be bored.”

She was bored, it was true, but rather than say so, she settled for a polite smile and a wave of her hand. “Not at all.”

Kisuke looked at her in such a way that Sakura couldn’t help but frown slightly. There was something about the man that put her on edge - in an unexplainable way.

“Is there anything specific I should know before I head out?” Sakura inquired, scooching over to the edge of the porch where she began slipping on her sandals. She turned her head and watched Kisuke as he looked up in thought.

“I'd prefer you went to the Nakajima Hardware store, their stuff is cheaper, but if you can’t find everything there, any other place is fine.” He answered.

Sakura nodded, pushing herself to her feet. “The shopping district then?” She asked, holding onto that hope that it was indeed located in the shipping district. It was the only part of this god forsaken town she actually knew.

“That’s right, I'm sure you'll have no problem finding it Haruno-san.” Kisuke beamed. Sakura inwardly deflated in relief at that. This couldn't have come at a more perfect time, it gave her the exact opportunity she needed to go and find a library.

“I’m off then.” She said, making her way to the entrance of the store. Kisuke made a noise of alarm, reaching into his sleeves and pulling out his wallet.

Sakura made a face at the sight of it and Kisuke let out a laugh and waved his hand. “Its for the items, the items. You work here now so it’s only natural that I would give you money to purchase items for the shop.” He placed the bills into Sakura’s tentatively extended hand.

“I suppose that's okay.” Sakura acquiesced, though with some reservations.

“So you’ll accept it if it's not intended for you, huh?” Kisuke let out a breathy chuckle. “I’ve never seen someone so determined in their refusal of money.”

Sakura sulked slightly. Isn’t it more odd to trust a complete stranger with their money after only knowing them for two days? She put the money into her pocket anyways.

“I’ll try and be back soon, but please don’t wait up for me if I’m gone too long.” Sakura made her way to the door.

Kisuke waved his fan. “It shouldn’t take you too long, good luck Haruno-san.”

On the way out of the store, Jinta and Ururu walked past her carrying boxes into the shop causing her to blink. A shipment must have been dropped off just earlier, which was strange because she hadn’t noticed any such thing. Though, she hadn’t really been paying attention to begin with.

Sakura smiled down at Ururu and the young girl returned the sentiment with a shy smile of her own. Sakura then directed her attention from her to Jinta, doing her best to give what she hoped was an equally kind looking smile. Jinta responded with a scowl, stomping into the store and ignoring her attempts at friendliness entirely. She sighed sadly. It didn’t look like Jinta wouldn’t ever warm up to her.

She was adjusting to her situation sure, but it was clear it would be long before certain members of the Urahara Shop adjusted to her.

Finding her way back to the shopping district wasn’t a difficult undertaking. She memorized the directions yesterday when she had gone shopping with Tessai, knowing that one of these days she would probably end up back there again. Being a housekeeper entailed all sorts of things, and Sakura had figured grocery shopping would be in her future. She was proven to be correct.

It was slightly crowded, as any shopping district was with the dozens of people walking to and fro. Families with their children, couples and groups of friends, all out and about for one reason or another. It was quite peaceful despite the chaotic nature of the crowds; and the more Sakura looked at it, the more she realized how similar it was to Konoha. The multitude of signs signalling just what was being sold in each store, the tight streets. It had been so long since she had actually interacted with a populace in this way.

Due to her work, Sakura often found herself shopping quite late in the evening so her interaction with people was to a minimum, besides patients and co-workers of course. If she couldn’t go to the market, then Sakura would simply order food in, either too lazy or too exhausted to cook. This happened more often than not.

Sakura took a deep breath, inhaling deeply the scents of the shops lining the street. An array of smells greeted her senses and it filled her with a strange feeling of contentedness. The smell of the small food kiosks was definitely the most prominent and she smiled. Markets were always such a joy to her, even as a child, hand in hand with her parents as they purchased ingredients for dinner that night.

Green eyes stared above the heads of the surplus of people, searching any telltale sign of the hardware store in question. It took a while, but the words “Nakajima Hardware Store” finally cropped up towards the end of the shopping area and Sakura made a beeline for the shop. She brushed shoulders with a young woman as she attempted to make her away over, apologizing as she went.

Squeezing through the crowd Sakura finally made her way to the shop, double checking the front to confirm that it was indeed open. The bell jingled above her as she stepped inside. It was a smaller shop, though much bigger than Kisuke’s by a considerable margin. Shelves and aisles lined the walls leading far into the shop, all full of different goods all catering to construction of some kind. It seemed almost empty save for Sakura and the middle-aged woman at the till.

The woman greeted Sakura as she entered without looking up from her magazine, rattling off the different sales they were having, none of which Sakura really understood. She wasn’t yet over her culture shock and still navigated this world with great confusion.

“We have a used lawnmower for sale for cheap, if you’re interested in that too.” The woman's voice was monotone as she said this, giving the impression that she really didn’t care if Sakura was or was not interested. Sakura scratched her cheek in confusion. What was a “lawnmower”?

“I… see, thank you.” Sakura answered, quietly slinking into the shop. She didn’t know what a lawnmower was, and didn’t really care enough to find out. There was a stack of baskets at the entrance so she grabbed one, pulling the list out of her pocket.

Thankfully she had no difficulty finding the items listed by Kisuke, who had been very specific. This brand of hammer, these type of screws, paint rollers of this size; finding them was quite easy and showed just how familiar Kisuke was with the shop. It seemed like a lot of the items sold in the shop were incredibly similar to ones she would find at home. There were of course… other things sold in the store that Sakura had absolutely no clue what they were. Like the lawnmower, which she squinted her eyes at, not understanding what it did and how it worked at all.

Having found all of the required items, she brought them to the woman behind the till who rang them up. Again, Sakura had no clue how much money she handed to the cashier, and simply prayed that she actually had enough. She put faith her into Kisuke’s ability to do simple math. The woman handed back Sakura her change and she deflated in relief. This money stuff wasn’t worth the amount of stress it caused her.  
Sakura received her bag from the woman and left the shop with that thought. This whole situation was incredibly wild the more she thought about it. Before yesterday she had been shot into the sky of a foreign place like some kind of human shaped shuriken and taken in by a man who favored the colour green. Maybe the adrenaline was finally wearing off a day later, because what the HELL was her current situation?

It was happenstance that at the moment she was considering her circumstances, Sakura was quite suddenly overwhelmed with a suffocating blast of energy. She thrust her arm out and steadied herself on the wall next to her to.

A feeling of coldness and dread not unlike the two previous experiences overcame her. Only this time she was finally able to identify exactly where it was. And it had appeared not too far from where she was. It froze the blood in her veins and removed the strength from her legs, making them feel like jelly. She had to direct chakra into her limbs to stop herself from collapsing there in the crowded streets.

Nausea coursed through her body, and a cold sweat broke out on her skin. The people around her spared looks at her slightly keeled over state and gave her a wide berth. Sakura couldn’t help but feel a little irritated at their lack of compassion, but figured it was better that way.

Hand on her stomach, Sakura shakily stood back up to her full height and looked into the distance where she could approximately pinpoint the presence. Pursing her lips, Sakura looked at the bag she held in her opposite hand.

Problems just kept cropping up, didn’t they? Well, she’d be damned if she wasn’t always right in the center of them.

You’re quite a trouble magnet aren’t you Sakura-san? Rikishi’s words resurfaced into her mind.

You have no idea. She thought, starting into the direction of what was assuredly trouble. She needed to solve this damn mystery and she needed to solve it now. Using sheer force, Sakura willed her body to move, starting with a slow walk until the feeling in her legs returned fully. What started as a walk slowly transformed into a speed-walk, then a jog and finally before she knew it, she was sprinting down the street and through the crowds of people, expertly dodging and weaving through them.

Sakura didn’t know how she knew where this thing was, but she trusted her instincts. Squeezing out of the crowd, she made a hard left into an alleyway as the presence began to shift, and quickly at that.

This was astounding to her, for multiple reasons. Sakura was not a sensor type, and yet she knew exactly where this being was. And yet, it didn’t contain a single ounce of chakra, so why could she sense it at all?

There was no time to ponder as she rounded up on the presence, shooting out of an alleyway with great speed, emerging directly in a residential area of Karakura. Stopping in the middle of a four way crossroad, Sakura attempted to spot whatever this thing she was chasing was. There was nothing immediately visible, but as her vision scanned the street to her left, she had to do a double take as a large man bolted down the road with a young woman hot on his trail. Sakura blinked a couple of times, before her mind caught up with what she just saw.

She recognized that man. He had helped her before, when she had been about to walk into oncoming traffic like it was a thing to do.

Wait… really? Really? What were the chances of that? What type of damn coincidence was that? That of all people to see right now, in this entire damn town, it was someone she recognized. She knew like six people.

And he looked like he was being chased by someone. It… wasn’t really any of her business, but he had helped her yesterday and been more than kind to her, so if he was in trouble, she wanted to help. Never one to just stand around, she ran in the direction they had both disappeared.

Was it just a coincidence that she had run into someone she knew when she had been following this thing? It seemed almost… too coincidental for that to be the case. Questions upon questions were just continuing to pile up.

Sakura sprinted, grocery bag full of tools rustling loudly from the speed of her sprint. Her hair whipped her face, and some strands flew into her mouth, causing her to choke and spit very unattractively. As she struggled with her apparently very volatile mane, she caught sight of something dark in the sky a block or two away from her.

That… doesn’t look like just a bird. This was confirmed via a sudden tightness in her stomach and itching sensation in her neck. She didn’t fully understand why that confirmed it, but she would follow her instincts until the end.

She didn’t need too, however, when the not-bird suddenly swooped down from the sky and out of Sakura’s sight. Frowning, Sakura pumped chakra into her legs and lept from the pavement, landing on a rooftop. She then lept again, bounding from house to house.

As she landed on a telephone poll, Sakura saw it. Her body went cold when it entered her vision. It was green and monstrous, undoubtedly chilling and assuredly the presence she had felt. It was big from what Sakura could gather, especially in comparison to the tiny woman kneeling on the ground in front of it. Sakura recognized her as the one chasing the large man just a couple minutes before.

The creature rose it's great arm in preparation to swing and Sakura clenched her fist. She didn’t really get what was happening, but this woman seemed like she was in trouble and Sakura wasn’t the type to hesitate if someone was in danger right in front of her.

“Oi!” She yelled, causing the beast to pause in its swing, whipping its head into the direction of her voice. The woman too stared up at Sakura in surprise.

That was the only warning it got before her fist connected with its head, slamming it into the pavement. The ground exploded, rubble shooting out from under the beast and leaving a crater. A look of shock crossed the woman’s features as the ground rumbled beneath her, causing her lose her footing.

“What-!” She sputtered as Sakura skillfully caught her. Settling the woman into her arms, Sakura shot off again in a sprint. She looked over her shoulder at the smoking indent in the road and knew for a fact that the beast was most definitely not dead. Focusing chakra into her legs, she did her best to put distance between both of them and it. She spared a look at the dark-haired woman in her arms.

The look upon the young woman’s face was that of flabbergast, her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. “You-! A human!” Was all she managed to utter, unable to form words. “How did you-! Where the hell did you come from?”

Sakura opened her own mouth to answer, then ended up losing her own words and had to close it again. This was kind of a weird situation and she really didn’t know where to start. “Uh,” Was all she managed, very intelligently. “Yeah.”

The woman looked like she had more to say but eyes quickly flittered over Sakura’s shoulder and widened. “Behind you!”

A deafening roar shook the both of them. “I’m going to tear you apart for that! I’ll take great pleasure in eating both of your souls!” It screamed, shrill and terrifying and also very close. Oh dear.

Her instincts shouted that the beast was right behind her. With chakra flowing through her legs, Sakura attempted to jump up onto a house for higher ground, but was ultimately snatched by the fiend. It grabbed her leg in its entirety, and caught her mid-air. It took all of her muscle strength to stay upright instead of flopping over like a ragdoll from the recoil.

“Shit!” Sakura swore as the being’s grasp tightened around her leg, her bones creaking audibly. She had underestimated just how quick it moved and how quick it would recover. With her arms busy carrying the dark haired woman, she couldn’t perform any jutsu. This was bad. She started concocting a plan of action in her head. Should she throw the woman? The distance between them and the pavement wasn’t too high, maybe-

Before Sakura could even finish the thought, the woman in question clambered from Sakura's bridal style carry and out of her arms. She climbed partly over Sakura’s shoulder with an outstretched arm and flat palm and began to chant.

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws! Hado #33, Sokatsui!” A blue beam-like energy shot from her hand, hitting the creature in its face with a giant explosion.

The hand holding Sakura’s leg relented in its hold. Capitalizing on its sudden weakness, she jammed her heel into the back of its hand, successfully loosening it. It dropped her and she landed on the ground in a crouch, observing her injury momentarily. Dark bruising was forming around her thigh and calf, an ugly purple and very… hand shaped. It hurt, but she didn't have time to dwell on such a low key injury. She directed her attention back to the creature, hidden behind the smoke.

It had to be said; Sakura had definitely not been expecting the woman to shoot a beam out of her hand. A beam that was noticeably not chakra.

“Did it work?” The woman asked, propped up on Sakura's shoulder. Sakura wrapped an arm around the woman’s waist to prevent her from falling and looked over her opposite shoulder. With all of the dust and smoke, it wasn’t clear what had befallen it.

There was throaty cackling and they were given an answer. As the smoke subsided, it revealed the uninjured and colossal form of the beast. They weren’t given much of a chance to dwell before the beast lunged at the two of them. Sakura leapt out of the way of the monster’s trajectory and it chomped down on the air where her body used to reside.

“I know that spell.” It said, expression all teeth and its face a pale bone mask. Its yellow eyes narrowed in humor. “It's a shinigami spell! So that's what you are!” He skulked towards them. “But you’re weak, it had no bite!”

Shinigami? Sakura thought, mind going blank.

“A tender little Shinigami… and a nice little bonus human.” A permanent grin was plastered across its face unable to change, and yet very much conveyed just what it was feeling. “This brings back memories.”

The woman clenched her teeth and her grip on Sakura’s shoulder tightented. Shinigami. Like a death god? This woman was a death god? Like the kind with the bones and scythes? Things were just getting more complicated by the second. Clearly this woman was familiar with this creature, and not a complete innocent bystander as she had thought.

“I’ve already eaten two Shinigami who tried to take that boy to the Soul Society.” It disclosed. The woman suddenly leapt out of Sakura’s arms and stood in front of her protectively. Despite the fact that it looked like she was at a disadvantage, the woman was putting Sakura’s safety before her own.

“The boy… you mean the soul inside the cockatiel?” She asked, face incredibly grim. “Why do you pursue him so relentlessly?”

Soul… in a cockatiel? Sakura had come upon a situation that was definitely beyond her current understanding.

“Good question,” It responded, and then pointed towards the two of them, “Maybe I’ll tell you if you let me have a bite.”

The woman ground her teeth at that. “You,” She said, turning her attention to Sakura, eyes flickering to her bruised leg and then back up again. “I don’t know who you are, but this doesn’t involve you. You should escape now while you have the chance.”

This whole situation was getting more and more difficult for Sakura to understand. This talk about soul’s and shinigami were going over her head completely, but if there was one thing that she knew, it was that this woman would be killed if she ran away. Not an option.

“I don’t really understand what’s happening here, but,” Sakura said, standing next to the woman and shifting into her battle stance. “the last thing I’m going to do is run away.”

“You…” The woman muttered, eyes wide. She then directed her attention back to the monster. “Fine, just don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.”

Sakura smiled in response. “After this is over, you can explain the details to me, for now, my names Sakura.”

The woman did not move or look at Sakura. “I’m Rukia, the rest can come later.”

“Yes, while this little moment is nice,” The beast interrupted and crouched low, “I’m rather hungry, and you both seem mighty tasty.”

“Here it comes.” Rukia warned, tense and battle ready. Sakura raised her fists and narrowed her eyes. When it charged them, she wouldn’t give it a second chance.

The horror leapt with a shrill cry, and Sakura reeled back her arm, only, the beast never made it to them, as a fist connected with its face and sent it toppling over. A fist that was most assuredly not her own. Both Sakura and Rukia looked on in shock.

“Yeah,” The new visitor clenched his fist in pride, face slightly covered by his hair, “Got it... I think.” He then began punching the air, nowhere close to where the beast was located. Sakura blinked again. It was the man who had helped her yesterday and the person she had been chasing.

The behemoth got back up, eyes narrowed. “That was surprising, but it seems like it was actually a lucky shot. He can’t see shit.”

The tall man then whipped around almost as if hearing this, swinging his fist and slamming it right into the nose of the creature. It skidded across the pavement, sending up dust and dirt in its wake.

“Yeah, I got it again.” He said, nodding at his success. Sakura let out a slight huff of an exasperated laugh. He didn’t seem have any understanding of where this beast was located and yet attempted to take it down anyways. What an incredible person.

Angrily, the beast shot into the sky, wings unfolding. “Now try to hit me!” It laughed mockingly. “Huh, tough guy?”

Sakura eyed the architecture surrounding them, made up of concrete fences and houses, and started concocting strategies in her head. Obviously she wasn’t able to unfurl some wings of her own and fly into the air, but utilizing the buildings around them might give her the height she needed. The creature wasn’t too high, if she jumped now she might be able to land a hit, but was it worth the chance that it might survive and bring the innocent residents into the mess too?

“Don’t just stand there!” Rukia yelled at the man. “Run! He’s in the air!”

The man turned to her with wide eyes. “New girl, you can see ghosts?”

The man's eyes travelled from the woman to Sakura and he looked doubly shocked. “You… you’re the one from yesterday, the one with the money.” He said. “Why are you here too?”

“We can talk about this later.” Sakura said, rubbing the back of her head nervously. “Now really isn’t the time.”

Rukia scowled. “It really isn’t, especially now that we can’t reach him.”

“Where is it?” The man asked, staring at the sky as if trying to locate the beast he couldn’t see.

Rukia blinked. “What?”

“You said it's in the air, where is it?” He asked again.

“Why, what can you…” Rukia stopped speaking the moment the man wrapped his arms around telephone pole. Sakura let out a sudden laugh, and couldn’t help it. She could barely believe her own eyes as she watched who she had assumed was a regular civilian man, pluck a pole the size of a tree right out of the pavement. Again, no sign of chakra of any kind.

“Which way?” He asked once more, voice totally calm in the face of danger. Completely devoid of any emotion that would point to the fact that he had uprooted a giant pole with just his arms.

Rukia immediately pointed in the direction, clearly not one to look the situation in the mouth. Understandable really, considering what they had both just been witnesses to. “There, in front of you, bring it straight down!”

And with a mighty swing, he slammed it right into the beast, knocking it from the sky and into the ground. The top half of the telephone pole fractured and exploded from the force. He then shouldered the pole like it was nothing.

Oh. Sakura thought. I think I finally understand what people think when they see me now.

“Just give up, another shinigami will be here to finish you shortly.” Rukia said, arms folded across her chest.

Sakura, ever the cautious person, made no move to approach the monster like the other two. A hit from a telephone pole would not finish things so easily.

“It isn’t over yet.” Sakura warned the two of them, eyes trained on their opponent. If she hadn’t been able to injure it totally with a chakra filled punch, there was definitely no hope that a telephone pole would put an end to it. The monster had proved to be hardy, it wouldn’t give up so easily.

The thing began to cackle, and it turned to look at them with its yellow eyes. “Aren't you a smart one.” It stated, directing its gaze to Sakura and then back to Rukia. “You lot aren't the least bit curious?” It asked. “About how I managed to eat two shinigami?”

“I’m not.” Sakura snapped, grabbing the man and Rukia by the collars of their shirts and tossing them behind her. Her instincts were never wrong. Whatever this beast had done to kill others; she was having none of it and she certainly wasn't going to let these two become victims too.

And right her instincts were as tiny, bulbous headed monsters leapt from behind their cover and attached themselves to her body. Their claws latched onto her and dug themselves into her skin. Sakura attempted to fling them off, and managed to shake herself free from a couple, but her body quickly succumbed to the sheer number of them. The imps grabbed her legs and wrapped around her ankles, causing her to lose her balance. She dropped onto the pavement with a pained “oof”.

The thing laughed again, grating and stared down at her from above. “You surprised me earlier with that punch of yours, but in the end you're just a human.” Its eyes creased in humor. “You all crunch the same way.”

Sakura ground her teeth as the imps dug their tiny hands into her flesh. “Kiss my ass.” She spat at the beast. It laughed down at her.

“Such an attitude, I like it, it only makes your fruitless struggling more delicious.” It breathed in deeply. ”I would have preferred to eat all three of you at once, but it makes no difference, I'll be eating your friends soon enough.”

“You idiot!” Rukia cursed at her from behind.

Sakura wriggled in an attempt to loosen the imp’s grasp on her but was unsuccessful. The imps claws were too deeply impaled into her skin and her strength felt like it was being sucked out of her body. Her entirety felt heavy, as if a weight was resting upon both her soul and body.

There was a sound then, like a chain being blown in the wind and everything was drowned out. Sakura could hear nothing but the clinking of metal.

“There! Kick above her!” Rukia yelled, and then all sound returned.

Her body lightened suddenly as the man rushed forward and swung his foot through the air just above her body, successfully hitting the imps and knocking them off of her. Most flew far, but a couple landed close by.

Sakura capitalized on her freedom instantaneously and leapt up before the tiny beasts could attempt to reattach themselves. She kicked the stragglers and the impact caused them to explode. Green goo splattered across both the pavement and Sakura’s clothes and something hard hit her in the stomach. She looked down and in her sights was a large purple leech, pulsating and clinging to the front of her shirt and even as she attempted to pull it off, it did not give.

The creature looked surprised by the imp’s sudden and brutal demise, and then began backing up as the man began punching wildly, coming awfully close but missing by a small margin. Its eyes then upturned and it made a contented noise.

“This wasn't quite what I intended, but that's fine.” Its forked tongue snuck out of it mouth. “The sooner the better.”

A shrill ringing coming from the beast’s outstretched tongue, shaking Sakura’s eardrums painfully. Without warning the leech exploded, knocking the wind out of Sakura and sending her backwards onto the ground. Grunting, she gripped stomach, blood seeping through her fingers and clothing.

The man whipped his head over to Sakura in surprise, eyes wide. “What did that?” He asked, rushing over to her side. It was a confirmation that he couldn't actually see what was happening around them.

Sakura groaned, and slowly removed her hand from her stomach. There was a hole blown into the shirt, the edges singed black, and slowly turning a dark shade of red. “Shit.” She coughed. Who would ever have expected bombs?

The beast cackled. “Surprised? The leeches are actually bombs!” Its eyes narrowed as it spoke. “This is why those shinigami became chow so easily, the idiots!”

Rukia was at Sakuras side where she was doubled over. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” Her hand began to glow a soft green as she attempted to heal herself. “At least we know what to expect now. Better than being taken by surprise later.”

Rukia stared at Sakura's glowing hand with surprise, and looked to be conflicted with herself, as if she wanted to ask how she was doing that but inevitably refrained. She turned away and faced the creature again. “You’re a strange human.”

“Thanks.” Sakura indulged, and did nothing to cover her small smile. “I’ve been told I’m tenacious and hard to kill too, my best qualities really.”

“Doubtful,” The beast remarked. “A human is just a human, even if you have surprisingly strong punch.” Its tongue lolled out of its mouth mockingly. “Tenacious or not, what can you do if you can't reach me?”

With that sprung into the air again, flying much higher than before and out of range. Rukia growled, and Sakura watched her fists tighten into little balls.

“He’s way too high to hit with a telephone pole this time.” Sakura deduced, looking at the man briefly before returning to Rukia. “I won't be able to hit him like before.”

“As it is, none of us can.” Rukia added.

It was frustrating but the area around her didn't give her much to work with in terms of jutsu, especially of the ranged variety. Her kunai and senbon were back at the shop, and no elements around her lent to her particular skill set. Ultimately, at her core, she was a close quarters fighter and not a ranged one, even if she had evened out her skillset over the years.

Fssst Crack

A cracking noise came from below and Sakura looked downwards at the green glow where she was attempting to heal her wound. The green aura surrounding her hand wobbled unusually and sparked. Alarmed, Sakura removed her hand from her stomach but did not cease the flow of chakra. She watched as it flickered, unnatural and indicatively wrong.

Chakra did not spark. Pure, non-elemental chakra, did not spark. Especially when her chakra nature consisted of water and earth, the furthest from anything that could produce sparks. And chakra most definitely did not waver while in the hands of a medic known explicitly for her impressive chakra control.

While watching this incredibly strange occurance take place, her neck itched and then the chakra concentrated around her hands stopped wobbling and ceased sparking. Unnerved, Sakura did not continue healing her wound. There was too much that could go wrong if her chakra was as unstable as it seemed. Medical chakra wasn’t something to be trifled with if her chakra was as off as it seemed and she wasn’t about to take any chances. The wound was already closed up anyways, the rest she could take care of later.

“I have an idea.” Rukia said quite abruptly, her eyes were intent on the figure flying above them.

The man leaned in. “What should we do?”

Sakura nodded, the chakra malfunction pushed aside in her mind. Right now anything would do. 

* * *

 

“No.” Sakura refused, face set into a scowl.

“Yes,” Rukia affirmed. “We don't have time to argue over this.”

“I feel like I have a tiny bit of credence in this situation to say no, its a bad idea and you’ll be killed.”

“While your opinion is noted,” Rukia narrowed her eyes. “You shouldn't have involved yourself in the first place.”

“Um,” The man interrupted, but both women ignored him.

“Had I not involved myself, you would have been eaten.” Sakura waved her hands for emphasis. “As if I could just let that happen!”

Rukia's eyes softened slightly but she did not relent. “I owe you; And that's why you will sit back and let us do this, this situation didn’t involve you and you were injured as a result.”

Rukia approached the man, clearly prepared to enact her plan, and also done with arguing. She was right, Sakura thought, they didn’t have time to waste, but that didn’t mean she should just jump into the face of danger with a sloppy plan. After the man launched her through her into the air, what then? Even if they managed to take the monster by surprised, what could Rukia do? Best case scenario was that she just fell to the ground, otherwise… well Sakura had already experienced it. Her stomach throbbed.

If only they could- wait. She was an idiot, why didn’t she think of this earlier?

“Wait!” Sakura called out, just as the man bent down to pick up Rukia.

Rukia turned to her, “Unless its a better plan we don’t-”

“It is a better plan!” Sakura said quite hurriedly waving her hands. “But I need you both to extend your disbelief.”

“Money girl, what do you plan to do?” the man asked.

Sakura slowly lowered her arms and nodded, “Something sneaky.”

Lifting her hands in front of her, she performed 3 quick seals and weaved a genjutsu around them only visible to the monster. Her chakra seemed fine again, enough to perform a jutsu like she did, at least. Both Rukia and the man only looked on in confusion as nothing noticeable took place.

“I switched something.” Sakura said, looking to Rukia. “Throw me instead.”

“Switched… something?” Rukia’s expression was baffled.

“Just an illusion,” Sakura nodded, as if that explained everything. “If surprise is our friend, then surprise him we shall.”

“Magic tricks.” The man nodded his head knowingly, clearly not comprehending the act Sakura had just performed, but accepting her answer. She appreciated his trust, but couldn’t help but question his ability to accept things at face value.

“An illusion, how did you-?” Rukia started and then stopped herself, knowing it was a losing battle. “You know what, nevermind.” She then pointed at the hole in Sakura's shirt. “It doesn’t change the fact that you are still injured.”

Sakura lifted the flap of her blown open shirt where the leech had exploded, revealing blood coated skin, but no wound. “I’m fine now.”

Rukia gocked, and then rubbed her temple, eyes scrunched closed in frustration. “Fine,” she relented. “Fine; what's the plan?”

“I’ll hit him under the guise of one of those big rocks.” Sakura revealed, pointing towards a large piece of pavement broken from her earlier punch. “If I’m lucky I’ll do some damage, if not it might give us some time until your friend shows up.”

The man looked confused. “Money girl, will you be able to do that?”

Sakura gave him a thumbs up. “I’m a tough girl, tougher than you’d think.”

Rukia pursed her lips, clearly unsure, but relented. “Fine, it's better than my plan, just be careful.”

The monster circled above them, and Sakura allowed herself to be picked up by the man. She fit quite comfortably in his hands, admittedly, but she was always quite small.

“I still can’t help but think this is… a strange plan.” The man said.

“You’re not wrong.” Sakura agreed. “There’s probably a thousand betters ways we could approach this, but we’ve committed now, I think.”

“Watch out for his leeches.” Rukia advised.

Sakura smiled down at the other woman. “If I get blown into pieces, then I won’t get an explanation will I.”

She looked up into the sky where the monster was still circling above them. Right now it was under the idea that Sakura was actually a rock, which would give her a slightly better chance to take him by surprise. “He’s just above you,” Sakura directed the man, “At 1 o’clock.”

The man aimed her accordingly, and then threw her, tossing her with such strength that she soared through the air. The wind beat against her skin as the distance between herself and the monster grew smaller and smaller.

“Pfft,” The beast snickered and moved to the side slightly, clearly not taking their efforts seriously. “As if something like that will get me again, nice try-”.

“Boo.” Sakura retorted, dispelling the genjutsu. The monsters mouth dropped open in shock and Sakura took that moment to strike. Grabbing the top of the beast’s mask, she used the force of the throw to smash her knee through its teeth. The beast made a garbled noise as they shattered, and faltered in its flight. Sakura then reeled her fist back again and smashed it right into its nose, sending cracks up its forehead and splitting it down the middle.

They began to fall towards the earth, gravity taking hold of both of them after the monster stopped flapping its wings. Sakura kept her hold on the top of its mask and swung her legs down into its face again just moments before they hit the ground, slamming it into the pavement.

The ground crumbled beneath them, the monster’s head plunged into the rubble.

Both Rukia and the man shielded there eyes from the dust being sent up from their crash landing. The man looked very shocked, and confused again.

Sakura leapt off of its body and stumbled as she landed. That had gone ten times better then she had expected.   
Backing away from its body, she caught a slight movement out of the corner of her eye. It was a bird cage sat in the middle of the road, containing a small cockatiel within.

The man’s gaze was immediately drawn to the cage and his eyes widened. “Yuichi’s cage… how is it…”

“I'm sorry.” The cockatiel spoke, surprising Sakura. “I was caught.”

The monster growled, pulling its head out of the ground, groaning. Pieces of white fell to the ground, and Sakura realized it was fragments of the beast’s bone mask. She ground her teeth together. Even after all of that, still no dice?

”Your tricks mean nothing. While you were distracted with me, I was able to capture the child.” It growled, holding its face.

The man extended his hand towards the bird, but Rukia suddenly shouted. “Don’t move, Chad! He’ll blow up the bird!”

“You’ve been nothing but a nuisance since you showed up,” The monster angled its head towards Sakura, teeth caved in, cracked and broken. “Run for me. Give me the pleasure of chasing you down!”

Sakura glared up at the monster. She spared a glance at Chad, who looked to be struggling with himself. The cockatiel was clearly something very important to him.

“I-” She started, but was cut off as Rukia spoke up.

“I’ll go.”

Both Chad and Sakura whipped their heads at her, Chad with clear concern on his face. “New girl, you…”

“Don’t worry about me,” Rukia smiled, “I’ll kick his butt.”

Before Sakura could attempt to dissuade her, Rukia took off running. The beast grinned, though his teeth were cracked and broken, and the rest of his face even rougher. He took off after Rukia and out of their line of vision. Seeing the sudden opening Sakura grabbed a piece of sharp rubble at her feet and threw it with deadly accuracy. Before the imp could attach any leeches to the cage, the rock pierced its head. Sakura then ran up to the cage and kicked the imp as hard as she could.

Clearly the monster had expected her to do something of that sort, as another imp jumped down behind her and spewed leeches. Shielding the cage with her body, Sakura leapt and rolled, barely dodging the attack.

“Money girl!” Chad shouted, running towards her. The imps attention was then caught, and it prepared to shoot the running man. Sakura smashed it into the pavement with her heel before it could get the chance, leaving nothing but goo.

With no immediate threat visible, Sakura let out a big breath of relief and sagged slightly before looking down at the cage in her arms. The cockatiel looked up at her, thoroughly rattled.

“O-Onee-chan, thank you.” It said. Sakura smiled down at the bird.

Chad approached her, and hovered slightly “Are you alright?” Sakura was touched by his concern for her wellbeing despite the fact that she was a stranger. He had showed similar kindness during their previous meeting as well.

“I’m fine.” Sakura tried to reassure him with a smile. Standing up, she handed the cage to him and then started in the direction Rukia and the beast had disappeared. “But she might not be. I’m going after her, stay here.”

“After him? Wait-” Before he could finish, Sakura took off in the same direction as Rukia, unaware of the orange haired teenager running in the same direction not to far behind.

* * *

 

Sakura was able to catch up to Rukia and the monster rather quickly. She zeroed in on the girl and frowned at the visible wounds she had received in such a short time. Blood was soaking the sleeve of her blazer, and Sakura could only imagine it was the doing of the leeches.

She prepared to leap out and intervene once again, but had no chance to, when an orange haired boy ran past her and kicked the monster in the back of it head. He stomped his foot atop its skull and scowled.

“Look at you!” He admonished Rukia. “You’re a bloody mess! You said you wouldn’t take any unnecessary risks.”

“Oh shut up,” She returned just as snarkily, but did not hide the smile on her face. “I had to say that. Anyway they weren’t necessary!”

Sakura realized this must be the backup she had been waiting for.

“Hey! You going to stand on my head all day?!” The beast growled. The boy jumped off and landed a couple feet in front of Rukia.

“I’m Ichigo Kurosaki, Substitute Shinigami.” The boy smirked, and turned around allowing Sakura to get a good look at his face. “If you want to play “tag” then I’m it.”

He didn’t look like a person who smiled often. At least that was the sense Sakura got from the crease between his brow.

The beast reeled back and prepared was likely to be another volley of leeches but not before Rukia, with a weird looking glove, delivered what looked to be a body blow on the orange haired boy.

Sakura could barely believe her eyes as she watched a version of himself dressed in a black garb shoot out from the back of his body. The body dropped to the ground, and Sakura shout out from the alley she had unintentionally hid herself in and caught it before it could hit the pavement and get caught in the blast of leeches. She jumped backwards, just missing the gross bombs by a hair.

The orange haired boy landed on the beast’s head with Rukia under her arm, dodging the blast of leeches with ease. He then unsheathed the very large sword on his back and slashed at the monster’s shoulder. He leapt again, a good few meters away, and put Rukia down.

Sakura took this moment to sprint around the beast and towards the two of them, all the while carrying the very limp and very not alive body in her arms.

The orange haired boy had a look of shock on his face, and instinctually raised his sword at her sudden appearance. This was fair, considering she was carrying his… body. She didn’t really understand it, but the orange haired boy was both in her arms and in front of her; that was clear.

“Sakura!” Rukia alarmed, and the orange haired boy looked down at his partner.

“Sakura?” He questioned lowering his blade slightly, “Is she one of your friends?”

“No, but she’s an ally. That’s certain.” Rukia smiled, and then promptly frowned when it dawned on her. “Who should be with Chad, and not here. What the hell are you doing?!”

Sakura put the orange haired teenagers body on the ground behind the two of them. “I couldn’t just let you recklessly run away without a plan!” She countered sharply. “He was after me not you!”

“I could say the same thing!” Rukia shouted. “This whole thing had nothing to do with you to begin with!”

“Well it's my problem now!” Sakura argued back, annoyance growing.

The orange haired boy seemed slightly irritated by their shouting fest. “You two sure seem friendly to me.”

“We’re not!” Both Rukia and Sakura shouted at the same time. The orange haired boy flinched slightly at the sudden volume and scowled.

“They're bombs.” Sakura warned him suddenly, calming down. “The leeches are, I mean.”

“So that's why Chad wasn’t moving earlier.” The boy stated, and then glared at the monster metres away from them. “Asshole, you made Karin cry, terrorized my friends and attacked a defenseless woman; you’re a real prick.”

“Thanks, now this prick is going to eat you.” The beast’s eyes curled up in humor.

The oranged haired teen shot off and began tangling with the monster confidently. Sakura took that time to observe the body on the ground before her.

“Will he be okay?” Sakura asked, not knowing if she meant the boy fighting or the body on the ground in front of her.

“He’ll be fine.” Rukia said with great confidence as she stared at the teenager fighting in the distance. As always, Sakura was out of the loop, but if Rukia said he was okay, then he’d be okay.

“Let me see your wounds.” Sakura stood up and tentatively lifted the smaller woman's blood soaked arm.

“It can wait.”

“It will not wait.” Sakura asserted, grip tightening slightly around Rukia’s wrist. She was using her doctor tone of voice now, and she was not leaving the smaller woman any room to disagree. Rukia seemed to realize this, and did not protest further, allowing Sakura to treat her wounds.

Not trusting her medical chakra since the incident just earlier, Sakura motioned for Rukia to shed her blazer, which she did. Sakura stared down at her own ruined shirt with the hole blown in it and decided it was most definitely trash and ripped the sleeves off. She wrapped the fabric around Rukia’s arm, who looked slightly confused.

“You healed your own wounds earlier, did you not?” She questioned, not quite understanding why Sakura would tear her own shirt before doing that.

“Some things happened that aren’t easy to explain, but long story short I can’t do it like before.” She finished tying the makeshift bandage around Rukia's bicep. “I’m sorry, you’ll have to make do with this for now.”

Sakura looked into the distance as Ichigo, as she recalled what the boy had called himself, continued to battle with the demon. He was holding his own well, and seemed like he knew exactly what he was doing, and Sakura could see that he was very experienced with battle based on how moved, but was relatively new to wielding a blade. She had seen similar form from many new genin all the time.

Rukia seemed confident in his abilities however, and Sakura figured she was better suited to staying out of the battle at this point in time now that he had arrived.

Footsteps announced another visitor as Chad ran down the street towards them, bird cage in his arms.

“Ichigo? What happened?” He panicked, as his gaze trailed down to the body on the ground. There was no sign that he could see the battle taking place not too far from them, making Sakura think that he couldn’t see Ichigo either, just like the monster.

Then why could she?

“Chad, just in time. Take that bird and hide it somewhere safe.” Rukia ordered.  
“It’s all my fault.” The bird lamented. “You all got hurt because of me.”

“Yuichi?” Chad looked down at the bird.

“Because I… Wanted to bring my mom back to life.”

* * *

 

Yuichi revealed then, that the demon had told him that he would bring his mother back to life as long as he ran from him for three months. As a result, Chad had gotten involved in this chase.

It was undoubtedly chilling, even to Sakura who didn’t quite understand the context of what the demon had made the offer. But she didn’t need to understand to be appalled.

This child had been chased relentlessly for months, all under the pretense that his mother would be brought back as long as he did what he was told. It pained her heart.

“You’ve been through so much.” Sakura spoke gently, and put a hand atop the cage. “Its okay, we won’t let him hurt you anymore.”

The bird looked down sorrowfully.

Rukia seemed very disturbed by this information, understandably so, but Sakura could only imagine it was due to circumstances she could not comprehend. Sakura didn’t get a chance to ask why when a giant gate appeared where Ichigo had been fighting.

Even he looked alarmed at the sudden appearance, and Sakura gathered that this was not commonplace, even for him.

“That’s hell.” Rukia spoke. “The Zanpakutou can only cleanse a soul of its crimes after its death. Those who committed heinous sins before their death are handed over to hell.”

The gate creaked open, and a great blast of wind had Sakura covering her face with her arms. She peaked through the gap and watched as the monster began disintegrating, but not before a giant blade pierced through its entire body.

Sakura had to close her eyes a couple of time, but made out the shape of a giant hand wielding said blade. The hand slowly retracted back into the gate, and the doors shut with a great bang. Then, the gate itself began crumbling into dust, before disappearing completely.

“That was hell?” Sakura asked, slightly shaken by the greatly intimidating doorway and ruthless murder of the monster they had just been fighting.

Rukia looked at her, and then at Yuichi. “You’ll get your explanation later, but for now we need to deal with the soul.”  
Both Ichigo and Rukia stood in front of the cage while she and Chad stood off to the side. From what Sakura could gather, they were sending him to a place called Soul Society.

Ichigo had some kind words to say to the child, about how he will be able to see his mother on the other side. Sakura was slightly surprised that Ichigo was not quite as callous as she had first thought. He was actually quite sweet. She was quite suddenly overcome with the want to ruffle his hair like a proud parent, despite the fact she barely knew him.

Chad too, offered very kind words to Yuichi, and Sakura was left smiling. Suddenly an image of a young boy appeared behind the cage, and smiled brightly at Chad, though he could not see.

Ichigo pressed the base of his sword against the boy’s forehead. The boy disappeared, and in his place was a black butterfly that flew away.

Now, Sakura wanted some answers.

To her surprise, Rukia removed an object from her pocket and set it off in front of Chad. Sakura backed off out of instinct, and as the thing exploded, she was glad she did. Chad collapsed to the ground, and Sakura worriedly crouched down next to him, checking to see if he was okay. He was.

Ichigo looked at Rukia in question. “You’re not going to replace her memories too?”

Sakura tensed at that and readied herself for an attack. “That wasn’t the deal.”

“You’ll get your answers, don’t worry.” Rukia assured her, raising her hands in hopes to calm her down.

“Will that really be okay?” Ichigo asked scratching the back of his head with a look of uncertainty.

“I owe her this much.” Rukia sighed, and then looked directly at her. Sakura returned her gaze. “I’ll tell you what you want, but first maybe I should start from the beginning.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The existence of Hollows can't be denied, and Sakura is come face to face with facts that only serve to confuse her even more. Just what type of place is Japan?

Sakura had lived quite a good number of years. Not too many of course, she was still in the first half of her life after all; but that did not change the fact that Sakura was now closer to being thirty than she was to being twenty, and while not necessarily old _old_ , she had a decent number of years under her belt. She could try and stave off the reality of her impending mid-life all she wanted, it would do nothing to change the fact that she was far from her little 13 year old genin self.

As a doctor, she was faced with many dire situations on a daily basis. It came with the career, really. Her days could range from a regular check-up, to an emergency surgery with her patients life on the brink in a matter of seconds. One of the first things she had learned under Tsunade’s tutelage was to expect that everything and anything would go wrong, for no reason other then it simply could. A teaching not too far off from Kakashi-sensei’s  _Expect the unexpected_.

That was a life of a doctor. The life of a _ninja_.

As a result, she was prepared for most things. Whether it came with job number 1, or job number 2. Be it demons, gods, or resurrecting the dead. Sakura had experienced those facts in the face and lived to tell the tale.

Admittedly, it was a lot to take in -- what Rukia was telling her; but Sakura was nothing if not adaptable. She had to be. And given that she had  _just_ faced a giant monster, there was absolutely no reason for her to dispute any of what the other woman was telling her.

A place called Soul Society, where the souls of the deceased would go when they died. The existence of Shinigami, and the role they played in the afterlife. It was a lot, but it was the truth. And given that this was most likely not her own world, Sakura figured that whatever was the norm for a place like this; well, she would just deal with the facts as they were presented to her.

Sakura was sat atop the railing on the edge of the street, back to the setting sun and the steep drop behind her. After the defeat of the beast, the three of them had gathered and Rukia followed through with her promise to divulge the information involving the monster.

“That beast than,” Sakura leans against the railing, careful to mind her injured leg as she digested all of the information Rukia had just presented to her. “It wanted to eat that boy’s soul?”

“It was probably what he eventually intended to do, but not before using the boy’s soul to lure in other unfortunate souls.” Rukia folds her arms, a frown on her face. “He was bait.”

Sakura can’t help but also frown at that. It was just awful, the situation that boy had been forced into in. She placed a thoughtful hand on her chin. “So he was sent to hell?”

“Generally,” Rukia started with a sigh. “The misgivings of Hollows post death are not easily judgeable. Due to the nature of their being, they are unstable creatures not always conscious of the actions they take. They are driven by regret and despair and other negative emotions; it doesn’t leave much room for reason.”

Driven by strong, negative emotions so blinding that they obscured reality. An image of someone popped into her mind at that moment; her fist clenched instinctively and she stopped that line of thought before it could evolve into something far worse.

Rukia continues. “That Hollow, however, committed sins before his death. Hell delivered its judgement based on that factor.”

There's a pause.

“That guy,” Ichigo speaks up for the first time since Rukia began her explanation, causing them both to turn their attention towards him.

Just prior he had been staring at Sakura with watchful eyes as Rukia spoke. Now he was looking away, fists clenched at his sides, rage and regret clear on his face. Something told Sakura it wasn’t just aimed at the event that had just transpired. There was years of rage and emotions there. Sakura had come to learn these types of expressions well. It was an expression of a troubled child with a huge weight on his shoulders.

“He said that he killed that kids mother and 8 other people before that. He thought it was fun.” Ichigo grit his teeth. “That bastard…”

Being sent to hell after committing such atrocities makes sense to her. The concept of sinning, as it were, seems mostly congruent with how they view things back in her world. The subjectiveness of morality aside, it's more l common then not to understand that the actions the Hollow took pre and post death were heinous. Ichigo, Sakura thinks, doesn’t seem just upset at that fact. To him, it seems far more personal.

Ichigo has been sizing her up, making judgements based on her reactions and responses. His intentions don’t necessarily seem mean-spirited, it's probably more curiosity than anything, but likewise could be said for Sakura. She’s been watching him too.

He holds himself with the air of a fighter, she thinks; she thought this the moment she first saw him. With a giant cleaver of a sword in hand, that was undoubtedly the truth, but it's jarring to her, because Ichigo is so _young_.

It is common in her own world for children of shinobi to act far beyond their age. Children hoping to become ninjas start the Academy as young as eight years old and graduate at around twelve years old. This is not taking into consideration the training some receive prior. Many of her friends who were chained tightly to their clans were forced to meet standards far beyond what should be considered reasonable for children. Trained to be prodigies that surpassed even the greatest of shinobi was, and even still is, common amongst many large clans.

The people of this world, if there's one thing Sakura’s noticed since her appearance, are far more carefree. They are not burdened with the thoughts of the dangerous and treacherous shinobi life or the expectations bestowed upon them by their strong predecessors. They are like the civilians of her own world, all with their own problems, sure, but Sakura gets the sense that their problems most likely range from career worries to friend problems, and not how to deal with their first kill. That is not to say, of course, their worries are unfounded, but it is clear that they are fundamentally different.

And that is why, Ichigo, so young yet so strong and sure, is intriguing to her. He carries himself like the weight of a thousand people rests upon his shoulders, and with a job like this, that could very well be true.

The same could be said about Rukia, who seems far too used to Hollows and battle for the age she seems. Sakura of course, doesn’t think underestimating someone due to age is wise, but seeing these two children fight like their lives depend on it.... Sakura is not sure how to feel.

Rukia gives Ichigo a contemplative look before she turns back to Sakura. “Not all Hollows are like the one you fought. More often than not they are simply driven by their regret to do awful things, and once Shinigami “slay” them, so to speak, they pass on to Soul Society and live their lives as regular souls.”

“And you two are shinigami?” Sakura asks, trying to reconfirm what she already knows.

Rukia’s face grows slightly somber at that question before returning back to its stoic expression. “I am, he’s just a substitute.” She slaps the back of her hand against his stomach. He makes an ‘oof’ sound and frowns, rubbing the spot she hit. “He’s actually a human, but it’s kind of complicated.”

“I… see.” Sakura wears a contemplative expression of her own, stuck deep in thought. This was a lot to absorb, but she thinks she understands the gist of everything.

“You’re taking this pretty well.” Rukia remarks, eyeing the look on Sakura’s face with interest.

“Well,” Sakura laughs slightly and rubs the back of her neck.“You could say I’m not a stranger to the unbelievable?”

“I believe that.” Rukia gestures towards Sakura’s stomach, framed by a singed and bloodstained hole in the front of her shirt. “Do you mind telling me how you managed that?”

Ichigo raised his eyebrow at that. “What do you mean “that”? She got hurt obviously. We should probably treat that soo-”

“Not that, you idiot,” Rukia growls, hitting him in the stomach again. “Her wound, look at it, it's gone.”

Ichigo narrows his eyes at Sakura’s stomach after he finishes nursing his own, clearly trying so see just what she is talking about and then blinks when he realizes Rukia is right.

“You healed yourself, did you not?” Rukia asks though it's not much a question as it is a confirmation. Ichigo’s eyes widen a fraction and are back to being trained on Sakura with thinly veiled curiosity. “Healing is possible for Shinigami, but a human...” She trails off. “You are a human, right?”

Sakura fumbles for an answer inside her mind. She has no reason to lie to these two, especially since she had been given the answers she had wanted. But the worried and ‘mission-like’ part of her told her to keep as much information to herself as possible, that the less that is known, the bigger advantage she has over her enemies. Only, Rukia and Ichigo do not seem like enemies, far from it in fact.

  
“I am most definitely human.” Sakura admits, wondering just how much she should tell them. Chakra, maybe she can explain. But the implication of being in a different world is much heavier, and Sakura isn’t fully equipped to discuss everything surrounding that yet. “And I definitely did heal myself.”

 _They might be able to help me._  Part of Sakura thinks. _The realms of Soul Society and Hell could very well be connected to my situation._

The other part thinks. _How many people will you get involved in this mess before there are real consequences, Sakura._

As it was, Sakura already felt beyond guilty for her sudden presence at the Urahara shop. She worried about the connotations of her sudden appearance in Karakura, and the fact that her enemy might have intended this to be the place she had been unceremoniously plopped. If that was the case, that meant they could be attacked due to their proximity to her. It was not lost on Sakura that someone was indeed out to kill her, even if the ‘why’ was still up in the air.

The sky was turning orange as the sun began tucking itself down below the horizon. Much time had passed since she had left the shoten that afternoon, and that thought weighed heavily in her mind.

That’s right, she had been doing something before she had gotten involved in a situation that had nothing to do with her. What was she…?

Oh.

_Oh._

“I’m really sorry!” Sakura suddenly stands up, panic clear. Both Ichigo and Rukia jump at her sudden animatedness. “I was doing an errand, but because of all,” She gestures towards some of the marks on the roads as a result of the scuffle. “that, I uh, got really sidetracked.”

Then Sakura remembers what Rukia had just asked her, and realizes it might seem like she was making an excuse for herself. She sort of is, if she's being truthful, but mostly she really had forgotten what she had originally set out to do. If she ran back to the shop now, she might be able to make it before nightfall.

“Can we talk about this another time?” Sakura asks hopefully. Rukia blinks at her, and then looks at Ichigo who returns an equally confused look. Sakura bows her head and claps her hands together in front of it. “I’ll answer your questions then, but right now I have to go back to the- I have to go home.”

“I… I see.” Rukia answers slowly, as if weighing how important this question was right now. “I suppose… that's fine.”

“I should bring Chad home, anyways.” Ichigo mentions, walking over to the unconscious boy laid out on the pavement. He picks the boy up and hoists him onto his back. Despite the other boys size, Ichigo doesn’t seem bothered by the weight at all. Sakura thinks back to the large sword from earlier and wonders if that’s the reason.

“Will he be alright?” Sakura asks. Chad was an extremely nice man, and had helped her out two times now. She couldn’t believe the sheer coincidence that brought them together a second time. She had made sure to check on him before they started their Hollow talk, so she knew he was fine, but it was the thought that counted.

“Chad’s strong, he’ll be fine.” Ichigo says, and there isn’t a single trace of doubt in his words. They must be close, then.

“I only erased his memories of this evening.” Rukia says. “Even though he was a great help, it's better if he’s kept in the dark for many reasons.”

Sakura frowns slightly, grateful that she had been one of the people allowed to retain her memories and hear the explanation, but slightly unsure if keeping Chad unaware was better or not. He might be hurt again or worse, especially if he has a penchant for swinging at monsters he can’t actually see.

“Let’s swap numbers.” Rukia says, pulling out her phone breaking her out of thought. It was a device Sakura actually recognized; it was just starting to become popular in Konoha. She doesn’t have one of her own.

“Oh, I don’t… have a phone....” Sakura trails off at the very curious stare Rukia gives her. “How about I tell you where I’m staying instead? Do you have a pen and a piece of paper?”

Ichigo says he does, in his bag, they just have to go back and get it. When they do, Sakura writes down what she can remember is close to Kisuke’s shop and makes a small (hopefully accurate) map.

“I’m staying at someone’s place right now, come by whenever, I’ll explain what I can then, if you still want to know.” Sakura says, handing the piece of paper over to the other woman.

Rukia glances at the paper before looking back at Sakura, and with great gravity says. “What I told you today stays between us.”

Sakura nods, its not like she has anyone to tell to begin with. “Of course, it’s very obvious why people shouldn’t be aware of something like this. I promise not to say a word.”

A few things come to mind. Disbelief followed by worldwide panic and fear. Not to mention these two are certainly living lives and whatever family they have might be better of left in the dark for their own safety. Sakura had witnessed the power of these monsters first hand after all.

Rukia looks like she has more to say, but her face becomes momentarily sad again. The weight of her explanation is not fully understood by Sakura, and she wonders what sort of line she had been allowed to cross.

“Thank you.” The woman says suddenly, and Sakura blinks. “Not just for that, but for earlier too. It had nothing to do with you but you stepped in anyways. Even though I don’t really get _how_ you did what you did. Thank you.” She points her thumb behind her at Ichigo and smirks. “If you run into a Hollow like that again, this guy will be there as soon as he can, make sure to be careful if that happens.”

Ichigo frowns, he’s always frowning actually, but nods. “It's my job.”

A smile curls up on Sakura’s lips. She likes Rukia. Ichigo too. They seem like good kids.

“You don’t have to thank me for that, you looked like you were in trouble, and I just so happened to be there.” Sakura says and pointedly does not mention the fact that she had actually been chasing Chad when that happened because she thought Rukia had done something wrong. “Make sure you take care of that arm. Get it properly treated before it gets infected.” She looks over at Ichigo. “Be careful you two. I might not get all of this, but I get that it's dangerous. Don’t get in over your heads.”

She bids them farewell and jogs back the way she came.

“Rukia, will this be okay?” Ichigo asks once Sakura is out of sight, uncertainty clear on his face. There are many thoughts whirling through his mind and they show.

Rukia watches Sakura’s retreating back and wonders that exact thing herself. She looks down at the paper Sakura had handed her.

The directions were strangely familiar

* * *

 

Sakura walks back to the Urahara shop with so many thoughts rattling around her head she thinks if someone shook her skull around it would sound like a container full of change. She was mulling over every little thing she possibly could, and just like always, was coming up empty.

The explanation that Rukia had given to her was a lot to absorb, but she was, slowly but surely. The existence of Hollows, spirits and Shinigami was a lot and brought up the of question just what sort of world she had found herself in. Her original belief that Karakura was just a normal civilian town was still right, to a degree, but only because the average people were apparently unaware of the supernatural horrors floating around their heads unseen.

Based on what Rukia had said, Hollows and Shinigami were clearly not common knowledge, and that humans weren't aware nore capable of seeing them. She hadn't really gotten an explanation on why that was, unfortunately. Especially regarding why Sakura, a complete introduction to this world's ecosystem, would have the ability before anyone else. Chakra comes to mind, but given that she hadn’t sensed a single amount of chakra beyond her own, that was probably unlikely. She wouldn’t rule it out completely though.

So, she wanted more answers sure. Learning more about Soul Society might give her a leg up in her dimensional detective work but the discussion would have to come later. That is if Rukia still intended to find her again.

With the revelation of Souls and the realm of Soul Society, Sakura really wonders if there’s a reason for her to be _here_ , of all places. Had her foe intended for this world to be where she ended up? So many more factors were being brought up, but she was no closer to solving anything.

Just another day, really.

 _Trouble magnet_. Repeats the Rikishi in her thoughts.

Sakura looks down at her hand where the bag of goods Kisuke had sent her to buy are thankfully undamaged. They had been exactly where she left them, lying in the middle of the street where she had dropped them before attacking the Hollow.

She walked with a slight limp, thanks to said Hollow. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, the pain and stiffness was starting to set in causing her body to creak and groan a little more than she preferred; and a little more than what she should be experiencing after such a low-scale fight. She had attempted to try and heal herself again a little earlier, but her healing chakra crackled and dispersed the moment she tried to heal anything. It was extremely unnatural and equally worrying. There was something about this world that was affecting her, and she had no idea what it could possibly be.

It had grown much darker since she had left both Rukia and Ichigo, and guilt was starting to gnaw its way into her stomach. She had told Kisuke to not wait up for her if she took too long, and hopefully he listened to her on that matter. It was her fault for getting caught up in such an event, and while she didn’t regret coming to Rukia’s aid, the fact of the matter is that she’s still late.

Before he had sent her on her way, he had assured her that her task was an incredibly simple one that would take no time at all. He couldn’t have possibly predicted that Sakura would get involved in a fight of such magnitude. Her mind concocts excuses to explain her tardiness, but none of them do anything to quell the anxiety.

A familiar block comes into view after almost a half an hour of trekking through the street of Karakuracho. Admittedly, she had gotten a little bit lost finding her way back. Chasing the Hollow and Rukia had taken her far away from the shopping district that she knew and as a result, took her much longer to get back then she would have liked. Rather than hop from roof to roof and chance worsening the condition of her leg, she opted to walk normally instead, albeit with some trouble.

She turns the corner at the middle of the block and the slightly reclusive building comes into view. The sky is much darker now, stars are beginning to litter the sky and twinkle against the dark blue of the night. In the far distance there is a vague pinkness that only hints at a tiny bit of lasting sunlight. It will not be long before it dips totally out of sight.

The lights are still on in the shop, Sakura can tell from the bright glow that seeps through the front doors. The occupants are still awake, and she becomes aware of the fact that she has no clue what the time actually is.

Its at that moment, Sakura finally tunes in to her appearance. She looks like an absolute disaster. Not just the regular kind. The kind you capitalize with give it it’s very own name. Hurricane Sakura is probably a very astute title to bestow upon her in that moment.

She hadn’t met anyone else on her walk back to the shop, if she had, she would have probably remembered she looked as bad as she felt a lot earlier. Even when the coolness of the air brushed against her bare arm, it did nothing to stir any awareness within her.

Her unkempt appearance is one thing, what with the giant hole blown through the front of her shirt. Its edges are burnt black and singed, mixing with the blood soaked fabric in such a way that it only served to make it look far worse than it really is. With her stomach burn now healed, it was only a faint reminder of what the leech had done to her.

Less faint was the giant claw shaped bruise wrapped around her thigh and calf, her knee at the center of it all. It's a deep purple in some places and more yellow in others, but altogether it was certainly an ugly thing. It put into perspective the sheer size of the beast in comparison to her more average sized body.

These wounds were sure to bring up questions if she left them alone and visible, and considering she was some nobody they picked up off a park bench, questions were not good. Especially if she refused to answer them. It would most likely lead to a misunderstanding, and based on the tragic backstory Sakura had constructed involving a spiteful step-mother, foul play might be thought to be involved. Then investigation would take place, completely exposing all of her lies and robbing her of a very comfy homestead in an otherwise more-dangerous-than-expected world.

Her state of dress would be even worse to explain, because she looked like she got into a fight with ravenous pack of fire breathing wolves and barely won. Maybe -- and that was a very _small_  maybe -- she could explain the weirdly shaped bruise on her leg, but a torn sleeve and a very obviously burnt hole in her shirt? Not a chance she even remotely wanted to humor taking. They made her look 8 different levels of suspicious and she didn’t want to fill their heads with even worse opinions then they most likely already had of her.

With a great big sigh, Sakura leans against the stone wall and takes a deep breath in order to gather her bearings once again. She would just extend her henge from hiding just her forehead seal to hiding her wounds and clothing as well. Her medical ninjutsu might be sort of weird right now, but her normal ninjutsu seemed to be unaffected. That was a relief. In this strange and dangerous world, having both her healing chakra _and_  ninjutsu taken away was not a happy thought. Not to say she didn’t have other tricks up her sleeves of course -- what type of ninja would she be if she didn’t? -- but she would prefer to have her chakra opposed to not, thank you very much.

Remembering how she looked _before_  she had been blown up, Sakura transforms and hopes she’ll be able to mask the slight limp she has.

None of this did anything to stop the anxiety about returning so late though. What would she say?

“I got into a fight with a giant monster. The night life sure is scary around here, isn’t it?” Sakura whispers mockingly to herself.

Hmm, maybe not.

Given the type of man Kisuke was, if she used that type of excuse he might think she was just joking. It isn’t like she’s going to try and find out, though. Sakura already feels like she’s on thin ice being the complete stranger she is. Only a couple days had passed since her appearance, and she was not any closer with her housemates then on day one. And in some cases, like with Jinta, her relationship had managed to get _worse_.

Sakura’s stomach squeezes uncomfortably and she breathes in and out again. It's a breathing technique she taught and used constantly with the children at the hospital. It eases the tautness in her shoulders and the pain in her gut slightly.

Its cool. Its all cool. She’d just say she got lost, a statement that was quite a valid excuse because it sembled some sort of truth. She _had_  gotten lost; it just… hadn’t been the sole reason for her delay. Its cool. Oh, just the coolest. Breathe Sakura Haruno, this isn’t your first rodeo, you deal with far worse on a daily basis. This is how normal human beings interact with each other, you remember how to do that, right?

Why was she working herself up so hard over this in the first place? Kisuke and Tessai were very nice people, surely such a minor thing wouldn’t upset them like her mind made her believe.

Breathing in through her mouth and out her nose once more, a slightly more confident Sakura rounds the corner once again.

And walks directly into someone.

Sakura just about shrieks, all confidence escaping her body like a deflating balloon. It gets caught in her throat before it becomes anything that sounds like a murder victim’s final shriek, and as a result sounds more like a choke.

Every part of her body screams in alarm and she reels back, her instincts yelling at her to reach out and strike; to take out her enemy before they have a chance to do the same to her. A hand reaches out to her and it's the only thing she sees, body reacting to the situation like it has for years. Sakura steps back out of instinct, right arm shooting out before she can think. She only just manages to stop its steadfast trajectory above her hip when the reaching hand lands on her shoulder and a familiar voice rings out in the screaming silence of the dark.

“Haruno-san?” The voice asks, hand steadying her. She flinches slightly at the contact, but does not move away. Her eyes are adjusting to dark now that she’s no longer positioned under the streetlamp and embarrassment is bubbling in her gut. She knows this person.

It was Kisuke.

Well this was embarrassing on many levels. If he hadn’t said anything or given any indication who he was, she would have thrown a punch out of instinct. Breaking her current host and boss’ nose was not another tick she needed to add to her growing mental list of cross dimensional fuck-ups. Sakura tries to ignore the fact buzzing in the back of her mind that she had not actually been aiming for his face, but rather his throat.

Kisuke’s expression is not completely visible in the dark and with that hat of his, but she does manage to catch sight of some of his face. His eyes are wide, clearly just as shocked to run into her as she was him. And, she supposes, he would be after she appeared out of nowhere like she had.

He pats her arm awkwardly, like he reached out to her out of instinct rather than purposely and he’s not quite sure what else he should do. Sakura vaguely wonders what type of impression this man has of her.

“S-scared me…” Sakura stutters out and attempts to straighten up from her slightly crouched stance, playing off her slightly aggressive reaction as just a fright and not something more. Kisuke removes his hand from her arm and Sakura is slightly grateful, though it was a comforting weight despite its awkwardness.

“That definitely wasn’t my intention. I certainly didn’t expect you to be there.” He admits, and looks a little unsure of himself. It's a strange looking expression on his face. “Are you alright?” He asks.

The guilt idly crawls its way back into her gut, and her head throbs. Trying to not let that feeling show on her face, Sakura lifts the bag of items up so Kisuke can see.

“Against all odds I managed to do it. Didn’t even die.” She jokes, but Sakura can’t help but think that an errand like this usually involved far less fighting and far less injuries.

Kisuke blinks at her, and takes the bag from her extended hand. “Well, I’m glad you survived to tell the tale.” He says, face still painted with a look of mild bewilderment. His tone is light, but there's also something else there Sakura can’t quite discern.

“Might have gotten lost, though.” Sakura lies through her teeth and pushes down the feeling of shame, and instead attempts to sound sheepish. “I’m sorry I took so long, I thought I knew the area better than I did.”

Sakura was an honest person, to a fault even, and she really took no pleasure in lying to Kisuke. Especially when said man was offering her a place to stay free of charge. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it; her situation in this world along with Hollows and spirits was not something she could explain, nor would she feel right to after promising Rukia.

“I was wondering what could have happened.” Kisuke says, peering into the plastic bag of supplies for a moment before back up at her. “I was starting to get worried. I have no way of contacting you, I realized. Did you find everything all right?”

It was then that Sakura realizes Kisuke must have come out to wait for her. She tries to find the words to apologize but they stick in her throat and struggle to leave, weighing heavily in her chest instead. She tries to ignore the bitter thoughts creeping into her mind, but she’s never been good about dealing with guilt.

“A-ah, yes, I managed to find everything fine.” Sakura responds instead, following close behind as Kisuke begins walking back towards the shop. She puts a little too much weight on her injured leg in her haste and sucks in a quiet breath of pain, hoping it goes unnoticed. The Hollow might have done a little more to her leg then just leave a bruise.

“We were just about to eat,” He tells her as he slides the door of the shop open. Oh god, had they been waiting for her? This entire time? The horror she feels must show on her face, because he chuckles and attempts to wave away her worries. “We usually have dinner around this time. My, you worry so much Haruno-san, do you know that?”

“I’m sorry.” Sakura says, face full of the guilt she feels. She’s not certain the apology is just about dinner. Regardless, it does nothing to ease her guilt.

“That too.” Kisuke points out with a sigh. “Really, how many times do I have to say that it’s fine until you get it into that pretty little head of yours?”

Sakura’s face grows a little warm.

  
“It hasn’t been _that_ many times.” She says, ducking into the storefront with a polite ‘thank you'.

“Oh?” He says, possibly quirking an eyebrow, but Sakura can’t really tell with his hat in the way. “I do recall a certain someone adamantly refusing any form of money despite being told that it's fine.”

“Who just gives a stranger that much money to begin with?” Sakura retorts with the tone of someone between a sulk and a pout, and then realizes she said that out loud and not internally like she intended. She scrambles and waves her arms in an attempt to rectify her words. “I mean, I-I’m grateful, really really grateful!”

“Hmmm…” Kisuke puts his hand to his chin in fake thought. “I have no memory of such an event.”

Sakura doesn’t immediately recognize the fact that he’s joking and is thrown for a loop momentarily before realization dawns on her.

“Ah yes, I must have wandered into this shop and decided to live here on my own.” She quips, sarcasm is dripping from each of her words. “Then took the money straight from your wallet; quite a scoundrel I am.”

“Ah,” Kisuke snaps his finger. “That must be it! I’ve always had a penchant of picking up strays.”

“Could have called me worse.” Sakura snorts, and doesn’t know whether to laugh or feel insulted.

“Is that not what you are?” Kisuke asks, and this time she does see his raised eyebrow.

“I prefer “feral” thank you very much.” She counters, a playful smile blooming on her lips. But even amongst their banter Sakura can’t help but dwell on _why_  Kisuke would take her in in the first place.

“You barely know anything about me.” Sakura says, contrite and to the point. For once in her entire existence of being here she would love to finally have an answer for _something_. “I could be some scoundrel. Could have stolen from you too, or worse.” Sakura knows she’s not painting a great picture of herself, but she’d really like an answer.

“The same could be said about me too, you know.” Kisuke deflects, tone not completely devoid of humor, but not necessarily full of it either. He unfurls his fan in front of his face and stares at her with steely eyes. “I could be a criminal too: a murderer even.”

“But you aren’t.” She says.

Kisuke looks equally parts surprised and intrigued. “Oh?” He intones, interest clear.

“I-I mean, if you were a murderer, surely you would have acted by now,” Sakura points out, face growing hot at how quick her response had been. “You’ve barely pried into my private life, you’ve given me not only a place to stay for free but also an exorbitant amount of money despite the fact that you really know nothing about me.” She gives what she said a little thought. “Actually some of that does sound kind of sketchy.”

Kisuke is still standing in the doorway, and his fan once again obscures his facial expression. She wonders if its a nervous habit. Maybe just a habit? Regardless, it hides what he’s feeling from her and makes the whole situation slightly more uncomfortable than she’d like.

Realizing she’s not helping her cause, Sakura back pedals slightly. “You’ve been incredibly kind to me Urahara-san, far more than I-” _Deserve_  , she almost says, but manages to stop herself. “F-far more than need be in this situation. I… I’m really grateful.”

She feels beyond vulnerable under Kisuke’s scrutiny and her stomach turns uncomfortably. She looks away. “I like to think I’m a good judge of character, and so far you’ve given me no reason to believe that's not true.”

It was obvious to Sakura, as it always was, that all of that kindness could be a facade; a finely tuned lie in order to lower her guard. A long con with the intent to hurt her, and do so in the worst way possible.

She… admittedly trusts too easily. Tsunade has pointed this out and told her that level of compassion was an admirable trait to have as a medic but also  _so very_ dangerous as a shinobi. Sakura knew this. She knew better than anyone that when it came to people's overall goodness, she was a little too optimistic. It's just that people had so much potential to be good that she desperately wanted to believe that they could be.

But, she understands. She understands more than people think. She’s optimistic when it comes to people, but not  _stupid_. She gets that some people are beyond saving. She gets that they aren't always deserving; that some sins are inexcusable. Hell, the Hollow she fought just earlier that day was a perfect example. But still, Sakura believes in people, because if she didn’t, what else else was there?

Innocent until proven guilty, and until Kisuke proved to be someone bad, she’d reserve her judgement.

Sakura tries to finish her thoughts on the matter and end this conversation completely. “A-anyways, I’m just saying I could have run off when you gave me that money and never looked back.”

“But you didn’t.” Kisuke counters, face still hidden behind his fan. “And even if you did, I gave you that money to spend, so it’d be the same in the end wouldn’t it?”

“It’d be _rude_  is what it’d be.” Sakura sassed, frowning. “Talk about biting that hand that feeds me. If not a criminal, then I’d definitely be an asshole.”

Kisuke lets out a snort, and the dawning realization of what she said hits her full force.

“I-I’m sorry,  _that_ was extremely rude.” She stammers and avoids making direct eye contact with him. Her facade of perfectly pleasant lady was being deconstructed with her own two hands. Though, thinking back to the day they found her, Sakura wonders if she ever gave that impression to begin with. She had… kinda been rude from the get go.

“Haruno-san, you’re very interesting.” He says, and doesn’t attempt to elaborate beyond that as he finally walks into the store himself and right past her. She stares at his back, not really knowing what to say to such a response. Question is clear on her face, to which Kisuke simply smiles mysteriously.

“I did say we were about to eat, but that wasn’t quite true,” He answers nothing and climbs up onto the porch. He spares a glance behind with a smile. “There still time if you want to have a bath before then, now's the time.”

And then he’s gone.

Sakura is left there, among the shelves of candy merchandise, pondering.

Kisuke is nice, sure. She won’t rescind her statement from earlier.

He’s nice, but...

He’s also most certainly weird.

* * *

 

Sinking into the hot water, Sakura lets out a long drawn out sigh. Kisuke’s suggestion was a good one, she would admit. She had been waiting for this moment since she had first arrived to finally use their bathroom, but had been far too shy to do so. Now, she had express permission, so she felt no guilt as she climbed into the tub after washing all the blood and grime from her body. She just hoped Kisuke’s suggestion had been because he thought she might like to have a bath, opposed to him thinking she stunk. Her henge could change her appearance, but unfortunately could do nothing to change her smell.

After such a chaotic day, no, last couple days, this was something she needed _desperately_. Being clean equalled a boost in self esteem and mood improvement, and after these last few days, she felt that maybe she deserved a little respite.

Beyond just her mental state was her physical state. Her level of exhaustion was far beyond what it should be after such a small fight and that was worrying in many ways. She had barely exercised her chakra, or really even her body against that Hollow.

An after effect of fighting with the Hollow itself then? Sakura vaguely recalls the strange heavy feeling she had felt when the imps had grabbed her and held her down.

Leaning her head against the edge of the tub, Sakura lifts her leg out of the water and really observes the bruise intently for the first time since receiving it. It was a nasty thing it was. Hollows in general were nasty; especially that one in particular. Nasty enough to be sent to Hell, even.

Anger bubbles in her gut when she recalls Yuichi’s story. That poor, poor boy. Sakura hopes that he manages to reunite with his mother in Soul Society like Ichigo said he could.

Tracing the outline of the bruise with her finger, she frowns. Using a henge on a constant basis wasn’t hard to manage at all, it took little chakra and very little concentration to manage, but if she continued to get injured like this, it would be more and more inconvenient for her in the long run. And in the off chance that all of her chakra decided to take a turn for the worse too, it was better to be prepared in case that happened. For now she would just wear long pants, even if the weather was mostly very hot. She’d live.

Her stomach was in better shape, but she had only knitted the tissue back _mostly_  before her control on her chakra had gone sour. The scarring from the blast was still there, shaped like a splash against her abs. She wouldn’t worry about that too much, she had long shirts that would cover such an injury.

The wounds in general, were not much to worry about. It was possible that in her haste to escape from the Hollow’s grasp she may have torn some of her muscles in her calf and thigh. It was only simple strain, and she would be okay in a couple weeks as long as she didn’t exert herself too much. Her stomach would be fine too, if a little tender.

Her body ached here and there, but again, rest would make her feel better and she'd mostly likely be okay again tomorrow. She was, however, quite fatigued. After supper she would go straight to bed, she was far too tired to bother with anything else.

As if triggered by the thought of rest, her eyes began to droop. Sakura gives in -- but just for a second she tells herself. A moment of rest in this otherwise very active couple day would be nice. Just for a moment...

Thoughts of jingling chains and bleach white masks plague her semi-conscious brain. It is not long until she falls asleep without meaning too.  
  


* * *

 

It is dark. Inky and endless. There is no up or down. No left or right.

She is floating, Sakura thinks.

She doesn’t know where she is. No sign of anything familiar to aid her very dampened senses. No sign of anything at _all_ , unfamiliar or otherwise. Just dark and inky blackness stretching as far as the eye can see.

She struggles to move, paralyzed. The space around her is immeasurable in its vastness and yet feels far more claustrophobic. There is no air. There is no wind. There is nothingness. for miles. She could by flying or falling, but she has no way of telling.

A sudden flash of white orients her slightly, appearing against the background of black, and standing out harshly. It is a sphere, simple, smooth, and unmoving. Sakura is overcome with the want to reach out and touch it but her body does not comply..

The orb shakes, startling her. It starts at just a tremble and then evolves into a tremor, escalating and escalating until… it just stops completely.

Then, it starts growing. It's morphing -- forming something Sakura doesn’t immediately recognize; until she does. It pulls itself around, like invisible hands are shaping and forming it like clay. It’s shape becoming familiar.

It is the face of the frog-like Hollow. Its permanent grins stretches, and its empty eyes curve upwards in humor. The comedy is lost on Sakura, and rather than laughter - anger bubbles inside her. Then, it's image melts, spilling to the ground like poured milk against glass. It forms a pool that stretches; spreading and spreading until it covers the bottom half of the inky darkness of her dreamscape, far beyond what its original mass would entail.

Then, rather than pouring downward, the liquid begins flowing upwards from its great and vast milky sea, like a force is beckoning it from above. The liquid twists as it rises, twisting and twisting and twisting, climbing into the endless obsidian heights. It is forming something gnarled, and tentacles slink out of its mass like grabbing hands. They multiply, growing and growing until the gnarled and twisted ooze is no longer liquid, but something solid.

It is treelike, yet not. It is bleach white and towering -- like bone.

The tentacles have not stopped. They continue to multiply and multiply.

And they reach for her.  
  


* * *

 

  
“-ura-dono? ...kura-...no?”

Green eyes fly open and burn painfully. Sakura shoots out of the water gasping and sputtering. Her hands reach out to grab anything but she ends up clutching nothing but air. She flails slightly, water splashing in her franticness but she manages to get a hold of the edge of the tub in her reckless movements.

Hauling her weight out of the water, Sakura lifts herself up to sit on the edge of the tub, nearly slipping and falling back in. Her heart is racing and she’s momentarily dizzy, her eyes tearing up slightly from the burning sensation of water against her naked eyeball.

There were so many questions going through her mind -- and then she realizes she had not only fallen asleep, but been _drowning_.

“Sakura-dono, are you alright?” Comes the deep voice of Tessai. He is just outside the door and the reason Sakura had awoken. He also sounds very worried.

“Y-yes!” Sakura is quick to answer, throat raw from swallowing so much bathwater. She coughs a little. “Is everything okay?”

How much time had passed? She could have sworn she had just closed her eyes a second ago.

“Are _you_ okay? You’ve been in there for quite a while and I heard worrisome noises.” Tessai asks from beyond the door.

She is very much _not_  alright, but she didn’t actually drown so she supposes she’s better than that.

“I-I think I fell asleep.” Sakura says, a nervous laugh bubbling out of her.

Tessai is immediately alarmed at that, which is understandable really. It might have been wiser to keep that part to herself.

“I’m fine though, really! I-I’ll be right out!” Sakura desperately tries to defuse, climbing out of the tub, minding her leg.

“Sakura-dono, please be careful! You might have been severely hurt or worse!” He admonished her. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’ll be fine, really! I’m sorry to worry you!” She pulls the plug from the tub and grabs her towel, wrapping it around her body. “How long was I in there for?”

“It's been about half an hour.” Tessai says. “I didn't hear anything while I was passing by and became worried.”

“I’m sorry!” Sakura apologizes, face turning red. “I completely lost track of time.”

“Don’t apologize, Sakura-dono, I’m relieved that you weren’t hurt.” Tessai is very sincere and understanding. Sakura is touched by his compassion, but feels mostly embarrassed. Ninja reflexes.

“Can’t say the same about my pride.” Sakura jokes, pulling her shirt over her head.

Tessai lets out a small laugh. “Dinner is ready when you get out.”

Oh, she _completely_  forgot about that.

“Oh, o-oh god, I’m so sorry I totally forgot! I fell asleep and then-”

“Do not worry yourself so much, Sakura-dono. Come join us when you are ready.” Tessai reassures her.

“R-right, I’m coming out right now, I’ll be there in a second. Please start without me!” Sakura pulls on her pants frantically as she speaks, wrapping her towel around her head in an attempt to dry her damp hair. She exits the bathroom to an empty hallway. Tessai has already left. For such a large man, he is quite quick and quiet on his feet.

Sakura shivers a little at the cold air, throat and nose still stinging. Something niggles at the back of her mind, like she’s forgetting something and can’t figure out what it is. After making sure she has all of her stuff, she doesn’t dwell on that thought long.

Sakura makes a quick trip to her bedroom to drop off her laundry before heading back downstairs. When she arrives, everyone is already eating, which she is grateful for. If she had managed to make them wait even longer because of her, she would absolutely die from the guilt.

“Glad you could join us.” Kisuke greets her pleasantly, through humor is clear on her face. Sakura can’t help but wonder if Tessai said anything about her tiny… incident.

“Sorry for the wait.” Sakura returns with a small smile. She sits down at the table across from Kisuke and next to Jinta once again. The boy gives her a dirty look as if asking why she had to sit _there_  of all places, but doesn't say anything, too busy shoveling rice into his mouth.

And so begins another meal with the Urahara shop. Its a pleasant one, aside from the glares being sent her way via Jinta. They chat idly amongst each other, and Sakura vaguely picks up that business is slow from the conversation between Tessai and Kisuke.

 _It must be_ , Sakura thinks, _when your shop is so hard to find._  She doesn’t mention this fact out loud.

After dinner is done, she manages to shove her way into dishes duty, though not without a fight. Eventually Tessai gives in, probably getting the sense that Sakura wanted to make herself useful. Minor chores were a good counterbalance to the copious amount of guilt she seemed to be accumulating. Working it off was exactly what she needed. Also it was about time she did her job. For being someone who they hired as their live in housekeeping, she sure wasn’t allowed to work that much.

Amidst the scrubbing of dishes, exhaustion made itself known. It became painfully clear when she rubbed her tired eyes with a suds covered hand. That… was the painful part.

The sting of soap in her eyeballs brings her back to earth and she manages to finish the dishes without further incident. Her short “nap” in the bath had clearly done nothing for her energy levels or awareness. It did a lot to her “ingested bath water” levels though. This level of fatigue… was not normal. Very quickly her exhaustion had gone from sort of tired to dead man walking.

Finishing up the dishes and shutting off the lights in the kitchen, Sakura wishes the rest of the household good night. They all reciprocate, minus Jinta whose far too absorbed into the show he’s watching, though Sakura wouldn’t have expected a response anyways. Kisuke also stares at her a little longer than she'd like before wishing her a goodnight and returning to his newspaper.

Sakura slips away from them with very little on her mind. The fatigue eats away at her conscious mind faster and faster to the point that she barely recalls walking up the stairs and entering her room. Everything seems very distant as she pulls her futon out of the closet and spills it onto the floor. Like static, her mind is fuzzy and her grip on consciousness grows more and more distant. Without permission, her body collapses on top of her covers and she falls into unconsciousness.

Sakura doesn’t dream again.  
  


* * *

 

  
When Sakura awakens the following morning, it's like a train has hit her into another oncoming train. Her body aches and her eyes are so heavy she wonders if someone has hooked 30 lb dumbells to her eyelids without her knowledge. With a groan of pain and discomfort, she manages to pry them open only to close them again when fabric scratches their surface. How much torture were her eyes going to experience before it was deemed enough? Was this karma for lying?

Rolling over from her splayed out dead man’s float position atop her futon and onto her back instead, Sakura can only imagine how awful she looks. If it's anything like she feels, then… not wonderful. Her head is pounding and her leg and stomach throb. It's like the world worst hangover after the world's stupidest night out.

Shivering, Sakura peeks over at the open window. She had left it open when she left to go shop yesterday, and now the cold morning air was punishing her for it. Every part of her disagreed with the notion of getting up from her place on the futon, but she fights through the “ugh” nature of her condition. Sitting up and wiping the crust formed around her eyes, Sakura approaches the window and slams it closed. Its early in the morning. Too early.

“Coffee…” Sakura croaks quietly to herself. Coffee would have to wait until later, but it didn’t stop her from wanting a cup.

She gets dressed and goes against her pleading, groaning body. If every fight with a Hollow ended this way, Sakura greatly pitied Ichigo for having such a job. This was an absolute _nightmare_.

Pulling on a pair of long sweatpants (with some unrefined hopping and paint) and a sweater, Sakura goes downstairs, making a stop in the bathroom in the hall to do her business and wash her face first. She looked just as bad as she expected herself too. Rubbing her tired, ringed eyes, Sakura lets out a deep sigh before splashing her face with a handful of water.

Exiting the bathroom, she creeps downstairs as quietly as possible before making a beeline to the front door. It seemed like she was the only one awake at this time, which was preferable. She’d rather not have anyone see how bad she looked this morning. She picks up her sandals and pads through the halls to the back door. The storefront was currently closed and she didn't want to meddle with that, just in case.

When she slips into the outside world, the air is chilly, but she isn’t too bothered by it. She’s also already far too committed and too tired to turn back. A little bit of wind wasn’t going to kill her. So with only a minor feeling of regret, Sakura makes her way down the back alley behind the store, and down the street.

Her leg twinges slightly in pain, a reminder of her encounter. Despite her unorthodox sleeping position, the status of her ‘grabbed' leg was overall in better shape but would definitely take a while longer for it to recover completely. It wasn’t so wise for her to be walking on it like she was, especially without being able to heal herself. It was pretty hypocritical of her as a doctor, but she has things she needs to do, and she wasn’t about to wait 3-6 weeks for them.

Testing the waters once again just to be sure, Sakura channels her medical chakra into her leg once more, only for it to disperse the moment it gets near her injury. She barely suppresses a groan. Nothing had changed on that front, unfortunately.

A brisk walk around the neighbourhood would stretch her stiff muscles, and while it didn’t necessarily help with everything else, it was better then just lying around doing nothing. Usually she went for an early morning jog, but being that her leg was the way it was, a walk would suffice. Inaction made her stir crazy and often only served to make her feel worse in the end. Though granted, at 5 am she probably would have been better off sleeping more. If it proved to be an issue later, she would just have a nap.

All of this was also a perfect opportunity to get a real grasp on the world she found herself in. So far she had just been speculating more than anything, and even just starting at the area around her was better than nothing.

The neighbourhood the Urahara shop resides in contains mostly apartments and homes, Sakura notices. Devoid of children and mostly residence to working adults and seniors. Observing this, Sakura wonders what made Kisuke decide to set up a candy shop here of all places. Especially when a grocery store was stationed not too far from there. Seemed a little redundant, but that wasn't any of her business.

She walks around the block for a while, taking note of certain landmarks for future reference. If at all possible she would like to refrain from being lost again like last night. God knows she didn’t need more thing working against her.

In her thoughts, she nearly misses the elderly woman carrying groceries up the hill ahead of her. The bag she’s holding are recognizable to Sakura, being from the grocery store from the base of the hill she had just passed. The womans breaths are laboured and she looks to be struggling, pulling at Sakura’s heartstrings severely.

“Um, excuse me ma’am.” Sakura calls out to her before she can think, walking up to the woman in question. “Would you like some help?”

The woman turns to her in surprise, but quickly returns a kind smile to Sakura, though not without a hint of strain. “That's very kind of you,” She says, eyes crinkling upwards. “but please don’t worry yourself.”

“It’s not a problem! I’m walking in the same direction anyways!” Sakura offers a smile as pleasant as she can through her headache.

“That’s...” The woman responds, unsure. “I’m sure you must be busy.”

“Not at all! I was just taking a small walk around the neighbourhood.” Sakura replies, waving a hand. “And even if I was busy, it still wouldn't be a bother.”

The woman looks thoughtful for a moment, before letting up and handing Sakura her two bags. “Thank you so much my dear, I feel bad shrugging the work off onto you, but hills like these are so hard at my age.”

Sakura takes the groceries from her extended hands and offers a bashful grin. “Ah, you don’t have to thank me, you just looked like you were in pain.”

The woman lets out a sad sigh. “Once upon a time, a hill like this would be nothing for me, but age is a nasty thing.” She gives Sakura another warm smile. “I’m Yumie Horikoshi, what's your name my dear?”

“I’m Sakura Haruno.” Sakura beams, bowing slightly as they begin to walk. “It’s nice to meet you Horikoshi-san.”

“Sakura Haruno huh? How apt.” Yumie chuckles. “Your parents must be quite the people.”

 _Sakura Haruno, huh, your parents must have had a wacky sense of humor_. Kisuke’s voice echoes as a reminder of their first meeting, and Sakura lets out a tiny laugh.

“My dad used to joke that they found me at the base of a cherry blossom tree,” Sakura recalls fondly. “I would have believed him if he didn’t also have pink hair.”

“Its natural?” Yumie inquired, eye wide. “I would have never thought.”

“I get that alot.” Sakura says good naturedly. Once upon a time she would have thrown a fuss over people's comments on her hair color, but she was older now, and it didn’t matter as much as she used to think. If people thought she was unassuming and underestimated her because of such a frivolous thing, it was their funeral. Though, she does vaguely remember getting defensive at Kisuke's comment. That had been… just an unfortunate day and Kisuke had not made the greatest impression

The incline of the hill is much steeper then before, and Sakura has to slow her pace to keep in line with Yumie.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around before.” Yumie states, eyeing Sakura up and down. “I feel like I would have. You’re very memorable.”

“I just moved in.” Sakura informs, smile wobbling slightly. Moved isn't exactly the most accurate word, but it's as close as she can get. Busting out ‘I manifested out of thin air recently’ in everyday conversation is maybe a good ice breaker, but not good for much else.

“Ah, that must be it, well it's very nice to meet you regardless, Sakura-san.” Yumie smiles kindly and returns a similar bow. “I’m very fortunate such a fit and lovely young lady like yourself offered to help this poor old woman in her time of need. It's a bit embarrassing to have someone carry my groceries of all things, but I’m just not as capable as I used to be.”

“It's nothing to be embarrassed about.” Sakura says. “I don’t think theres anything wrong with asking someone for help when you need it.”

“I suppose that's true.” Yumie agrees. “I just wish hills weren’t so _hellish_.”

Sakura lets out a snort of humor. “Unfortunately hills are always hellish, and they somehow manage to get worse with age.”

The two of them chat idly during the trek to Yumie’s homes and Sakura finds her incredibly amiable and easy to talk with. The woman has an aura of gentleness around her that's so incredibly reminiscent of Sakura’s own grandmother, she can’t help but find herself opening up to her. There's also something else about her that reminds Sakura of someone else she knows, but she can’t quite put her finger on who. Well if there's one thing that's certain, unlike Sakura’s grandmother who would gasp at even the most minor swear, Yumie has no problem snarking about anything. Sakura can only hope she’s a fraction as charming as Yumie when she gets old.

It's not long before they reach their destination, as Yumie points out an apartment building that is stark against the early morning sky.

“I can take it from here now dear.” Yumie tells her, taking the groceries back from her hands. “Would you like to come in for some tea? I’d like to give you a proper thank you.”

“Ah, I should probably head home.” Sakura says, apology tinting her voice. “I’m working as a live in housekeeper right now and I should probably return sooner than later.”

“Ah, then I certainly won’t keep you then.” Yumie offers Sakura an understanding smile. “Feel free to come by whenever you feel like it, Sakura-san, your company is a joy. My grandchildren are all off to university now and it's nice to have someone so young to talk to again; it keeps me modern you know, hearing what you young folks get up to.”

Sakura is not sure what ‘university' is, but she surmises it has something to do with either school or work. She also doesn’t mention that what the ‘young folks’ get up to in this world are most likely completely different from anything associated with Sakura. Unless of course Yumie wants to hear about knives and ninjas. As they speak, something catches Sakura’s attention from her periphery.

“Of course! I would love to come by sometime. Talking with you has been a blast.” Sakura returns her attention to Yumie, beaming. She tries to shove away the thought that once she returns to her world Yumie will likely never see her again. Her smile loses a little bit of its luster at the thought. It's fine, they had only just met, after all.

“I’m in apartment 235 if you ever want to stop by for a visit. I hope to see you again soon, Sakura-san.” Yumie gives Sakura one more smile and heads through the apartment doors with a small little wabe. Sakura returns the gesture with a little wave of her own, waiting until she’s out of sight before doing what she needs to do. Immediately, she rounds on the person she had actually intended to track down on her little morning excursion.

“I certainly didn’t expect to see you here so soon, Sakura-san.” Rikishi says, just as transparent as he had been when she first met him; physically that is. Nothing about him has changed in the past two days, with his dark brown kimono pants and shirt and still bald head. He smiles at her kindly, and Sakura can’t help but return one of her own.

She makes sure to look around for any onlookers before answering him. It wouldn’t do for her neighbours to think she was mentally… unsound.

“I actually would have liked to have visited sooner, but some… things happened.” Sakura says, sliding into the oh-so-familiar alley of their first meeting. The garbage can she had barrelled into has since been re-erected, but it’s outer body has many dents and scuffs that were not there before. That was her fault.

“I see you’ve met my daughter.” He says.

Oh.

Oh, _of course_.

“Horikoshi-san is your daughter?” Sakura gawks, pieces coming together just a second too late. The familiar smile, _this_ apartment building… of course they were related. How did this keep happening? And his daughter, at that… “Rikishi-san… you’ve been dead for a long time huh?” She says.

Rikishi smiles sadly and strokes his beard. “It is what is is, my dear.” He sits down against the alley wall in a rectangular spot clear of refuse and garbage. Sakura wonders if he keeps that area tidy himself, and if so, if he can touch things in the physical world. “I certainly didn’t expect you to meet my daughter of all people, especially in such a short time.” He says.

“I just happened to meet her on my walk. She was struggling with some groceries so I helped her out.” Sakura says, then lets out a exasperated laugh. “I can’t believe that this type of thing has happened twice now. I’m half expecting to meet my long lost sibling at this rate.”

“You’re such a good child.” Rikishi beams, and then curiosity overtakes his features. “And twice? What have you been up to in these last two days, Sakura-san?”

“A lot.” Sakura admits, sitting on a clear garbage bag full of shredded paper across from him. She has some stuff to say, so better to make herself comfortable. “Some things have happened that I’d actually like to talk to you about, Rikishi-san.”

The curiosity on the mans face doesn’t budge an inch. He strokes his beard. “I’m all ears.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my GOD sorry for this wonky ass update schedule. I’m trying to write as much as i can and often as i can, but im such a perfectionist it take SO long to finish a chapter. 
> 
> Thanks to all of yall who are reading and reviewing this story, it means soooo much to me. That sweet sweet validation helps me out so much, and without it i dont know if this chapter would be done as quick as it has been haha. Considering I once took nearly a year for chapter 3, i’d say i did alright for this one HAHA.
> 
> So, things are starting to Happen. Sakura has to deal with the newfound knowledge of soul society, hollows and shinigami, and that really throws a wrench into her plans. Kisuke nearly scares her into punching him in the throat, she has a spooky dream and Rikishi makes his return! His Daughter also makes an appearance! What a great lil fam they are. 
> 
> Maybe one of these days I’ll end a chapter NOT in the middle of a conversation.
> 
> Thanks for reading folks! It means the world to me, stay tuned for more! And hopefully things will really begin to Turn Up soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Jinta Hanakari hates Sakura Haruno. He hates her dumb pink hair and her equally dumb goodie two shoes act. He hates her creepy lack of presence and the way she tries to play nice with him. And he definitely hates the way she just stormed into their lives with no reservations, and certainly without his permission.

Jinta hates most things about Sakura Haruno, but the biggest killer, oh the  _biggest_ _killer_ , is definitely how much Ururu, and everyone else in the household for that matter, has taken a shine to her. 

But Jinta knows. He knows that underneath that sweet and polite exterior lies creepy, sniveling liar. If Sakura were to know the truth about their world, she would most certainly cry and run away with her tail between her legs. He doesn’t trust her as far as he can throw her and he hates that he seems to be the only one that realizes any of this.

Because of her they now have to be on the  _ downlow _  because her dumb human presence messes with business. They have to act like they are a normal shop selling normal candy and not like they’re the major Shinigami goods supplier they are. All of their business has to be done when she’s not around and listening and its such a huge pain. Jinta doesn’t get why their boss would do such a dumb and reasonless thing like have a human live with them. Just what the hell was he thinking?

Jinta doesn’t get it. Doesn’t get why they have to adjust  _ their _  lives for a complete stranger and human they picked up off a park bench. They don’t owe her a thing and she certainly hasn’t earned it. Not only that, she’s been equally sketchy, showing up at seven o’clock at night when she had left at like three for the easiest errand ever. It’s suspicious and Jinta doesn’t like anything about it.

And the worst part is, Kisuke seems perfectly fine with all of it. He doesn’t mind that she traipses into the shop late into the night, and he even makes them wait to eat until she gets there. He doesn’t seem bothered by moving their business into the late hours of night or extremely early hours of the morning. And even wilder, is that their greedy businessman of a boss had given Sakura a large sum of money for no discernible reason. Jinta had accidentally overheard them talking about it the other day and it most assuredly grossed him out. It's all so stupid and makes zero sense and Jinta  _ hates it. _

And then when he voices his concerns  _ he’s _  the one that gets in trouble!

“Kisuke-san knows what he’s doing.” Ururu tells hims, and he scoffs at her. What was she trying to act mature for? She couldn’t possibly like having a stranger in their house any more than he does. Then again, Ururu never really voices her opinion on anything.

“Sure doesn’t look like it.” Jinta swings the broom he's holding like a bat in an attempt to hit the ball he throws into the air. “He never tells us anything.” He pauses in his toss and makes a face. “Maybe he’s in love with her or something. Gross.” 

Ururu looks shocked at his words. Good, then maybe she’d be as creeped out as he is. “You know that's not true.” She says instead, pausing in her sweeping. “And Sakura-san is nice.” 

Jinta glowers. Of course he’d expect such a response from Ururu, but she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Pissed off, he forgoes his impromptu batting session and hits her in the back of the head with the bristly part of his broom. “Don’t talk back you low level weakling, you don’t know anything.” He barks. 

Ururu yelps and clutches her head, crouching in an attempt to shield herself away from his torment. That’s for always acting like she’s better than him. That’ll show her.  

“But I’m t-three years older than you!” She cries out.

“I’m not talking about age, I’m talking about level! Level!” He continues to poke her relentlessly, and not gently either.

“Y-you’re gonna get in trouble with Tessai-san for not cleaning!” She attempts to scare him, and it nearly works. 

“Ha! I’m not cleaning because I’m scared of him!” Jinta falsely boasts, dropping the broom and reaching to pull her dumb cockroach bangs instead. That however, proves to be an issue when he finds his wrist caught behind him. He startles at the action and fears for a moment that Tessai actually has appeared. He whips around furiously, only to stop upon seeing who the perpetrator is.

“You never change, huh tiny.” Comes the familiar voice of their most loyal customer. Though, she was only truly loyal through necessity. “Is the boss in?” 

Jinta glares at Rukia Kuchiki and wrenches his wrist out of her grasp, slightly relieved it hadn’t actually been Tessai. He would have gotten into deep shit for both bullying Ururu and shirking his work.  

“Welcome.” He says, though his tone implies that she is  _not_ welcome at all. 

“I-I’ll go get him.” Ururu sniffles and takes the opportunity to escape Jinta’s tormenting. She runs over to the entrance of the shop and rushes inside.  

Always a star employee, Jinta attempts to go and let Kisuke know about their visitor too if only to get away, but is halted by Rukia’s sudden hand on his shoulder. He turns to her and quirks an eyebrow. 

“What?” He says, ever so patient.  

Uncertainty crosses her features for an instant, a piece of paper clutched in her other hand. He hadn’t spotted that before, not that he really really cared enough to bother looking in the first place.  

“You wouldn’t happen to know if a Sakura Haruno lives around here, would you?” She asks, 

It’s like a rope tied to an anvil that is abruptly cut from its pulley. A ball drops and Jintas mind explodes, causing him to nearly trip over his own two feet while standing stationary.  _ What? _

Jinta doesn’t just rush to conclusions, he sprints over the damn border and  _lives there_. His mind is going 100 miles a minute with the possibilities Rukia’s information has just presented him with. He has a hard time keeping up with his thoughts but he manages to hold onto something in the whirlwind of conspiracies.  

“No one like that lives around here.” He blurts before he can think, and the lie comes out easily, his face schooled into an expression of disinterest. He supposes this is what he’s doing now. “Name sounds pretty fake though, you get scammed or something? Or is she a friend?” 

Rukia frowns and looks back down at the piece of paper in her hand, disappointed. “No. No, I barely know her.”

This is it. This is what he needed to prove that there's more to Sakura Haruno then what appears. He supposes that Rukia knowing Sakura isn’t necessarily evidence of anything bad, especially considering Rukia is posing as a human at the moment. But what are the chances of them meeting? Thats some coincidence if so, but Jinta doesn’t think it is. He considers Sakura’s late and suspicious arrival last night.

Jinta knows Shinigami don’t kiss and tell, so there's no reason for a human to go walking around without an unerased memory if a Hollow was involved. No, Sakura has to be apart of something bigger. The real question was what?

Regardless, he can’t have Rukia asking Kisuke or Tessai about it, because they’ll most certainly tell her the truth and she’ll know that he was lying. If that happens he’ll lose his chance to find out just who the hell Sakura Haruno is. 

“If I hear anything, I’ll let you know.” Jinta supplies helpfully.

“For free?” Rukia quirks a disbelieving eyebrow. “I find that hard to believe.” 

Right, why would he offer something like that for free? C’mon Jinta. 

“Just don’t tell Tessai or the boss that I was slacking.” He proposes, picking up the broom from the ground and leaning on it. He knows she wasn’t going to say anything anyways, but she didn’t need to know that.  

“Just what I’d expect from one of Urahara's.” Rukia sighs but nods. “That's fine, I won’t say anything.” 

“Just let me know what I’m looking for.” Jinta prods. He knows there are very few people running around with such a unique name, but he’s playing the long con right now and he needs to do his part. 

“She’s hard to miss.” Rukia says. “Pink hair, green eyes. Taller than me, about average height.” She pauses, and then adds after a thought. “And strong.” 

Being strong isn’t really a great descriptor, Jinta thinks, but doesn’t mention that. He can’t help but wonder  _ how _   Rukia would know that. Was there a fight after all? A Hollow? He doesn’t know, but he’s not going to prod too much for the sake of his ruse. Not to mention Sakura doesn’t look like the strong type.

“Pleasure doing business.” Jinta smirks, and part of him puffs in pride. He was a genuine business man. Maybe he’d make a good merchant after all? Images of being a CEO of a huge company enters his mind momentarily before he comes back to earth. “What business you got with her anyways?”

Rukia opens her mouth to answer but is abruptly interrupted.  

“Good morning Kuchiki-san.” Kisuke appears in the shop doorway, gently fanning his face and smirking. “Always a pleasure.”  

Jinta tenses and pretends like he wasn’t just plotting something that would get him in trouble if found out. Hopefully Kisuke hadn’t heard any of their conversation.  

“Urahara.” Rukia returns his greeting with a curt not. 

He and Rukia spare themselves any further formalities and just dive straight into business, heading inside. Jinta stays outside and idly twirls the broom a couple times in his hand before looking to the distance, a scowl plastered on his face. 

Sakura Haruno is up to something, and he swears he’s going to find out what.   
  


“Hollows?” An expression of fear appears momentarily on Rikishi’s features “Thats what those beasts are called?”

“So you do know about them.” Sakura confirms, leaning over with her hands clasped together.

“There isn’t a single veteran soul around her that doesn’t.” Rikishi looks distressed as he strokes his beard. “Sakura-san, how do  _ you _  know this?”

“I fought one yesterday.” She says matter of factly, like it was the most normal thing to mention in the world.

Rikishi sputters. “You fought one?! What!?” 

“It was attacking someone, so I stepped in.” Sakura explains, paying no mind to his shock. Or rather, not really noticing it while deep in her thoughts. “Rikishi-san what do you know about Shinigami?” 

“Sakura-san you can’t just bowl me over with something like that and then change the subject!” Rikishi exasperates, letting out a soft wheeze. “Is that why you were limping? Were you injured?” 

Sakura freezes. Had it been that obvious? She’d been doing her best to hide it, and even thought she was doing a pretty good job too. 

“...You noticed?” She questions, a tiny amount of shame leaking into her tone.  

“You tend to when all you can do is people watch.” He says, and a somberness sets into his features at the notion, reminding Sakura once again that she’s most likely the only living being that has interacted with him in probably decades. “Did you go and get treated?” He continues, voice thick with concern.  

“No, but I’m okay.” She attempts to placate, raising a calming hand. “Something like that won’t kill me, I assure you.” 

“Take this from an expert on being dead.” Rikishi’s tone is full of warning. “It's only a small wound now, but death is a lot easier to stumble upon than you’d think. Don’t make the mistake of letting yours be a preventable one, Sakura-san.” 

“I’m tougher than the average human.” Sakura insists as modestly as she can. She knows better than most that death can take anyone at anytime. “And I don’t mean that in a boastful way, my body can take a lot of damage and still be fine, I really will be okay.”  

This is mostly true. While her body is able to take more damage than most, much of it is due to her precise chakra control. Being able to harden parts of her body at a moment's notice is exactly why that leech hadn’t ripped her body in half with its explosion. But these details are kind of convoluted for the point she’s trying to make, so she’ll settle for something simpler. And she’d rather not mention the exploding leeches. 

“Yet you’re still hurt.” Rikishi points out. “Sakura-san, I get that you aren’t a regular person and I don't doubt your strength either, but every human has their breaking point, ninja or otherwise. I would prefer to speak with the living you and not the dead one.” 

Sakura opens her mouth to once again refute and tell him that it's fine, that she really has suffered worse, but stops herself short. She knows her body better than anyone, and she most certainly knows her breaking point but Rikishi has a point and she’s not gonna sit there and tell him he’s wrong when he’s only expressing concern for her wellbeing.  

They might not have known each other long, but the oddness of their situations brought them together in an unexpected way. With Rikishi being dead and Sakura being completely out of her element and world, they are both entrenched in circumstances not understood by others. It’s easy to empathize with each other based on these facts. Rikishi proves to be a very kind man again and again, and his actions and words speak much about his character. His legacy too, in the form of Yumie, his equally kind daughter. And same as Yumie’ Sakura can’t help but find herself at ease in Rikishi’s grandfatherly presence. 

“I will.” Sakura affirms with a nod, if only to lessen the strain on his conscience. “I’ll take care of it don’t worry. I am a certified medic you know.” 

Rikishi seems to accept that, eyeing her leg with a level of disappointment that is soon overturned by curiosity. “A medic too? You’re a woman of many talents. How many professions do you require, Sakura-san?” 

“As many as I need.” She grins. “But that's for another time. Sorry to be so blunt and quick about this, but what do you know about Shinigami?” 

Rikishi is stroking his chin. “Right, you did mention that earlier. Shinigami huh. Not a topic you hear everyday.” He says. “If you’re talking about the beings from stories and other myths, then yes, I’m familiar.” 

“Folklore?” Sakura prods curiously. So there are existing documents and stories about them. 

“It completely depends on the religion and area I suppose. I know westerners have different ideas about what a Shinigami is.” Rikishi explains. “As for us Japanese, I think the most common idea of a Shinigami is a being that invites the living towards death.”  

That is… very interesting. That’s very similar to the mythology and tales of Shinigami in her world. A being that ends the life of the living, causing them to cross over into the realm after death. There a micro details that are different, and that is a given, but the similarities between this world and her own are stacking up in a way that makes Sakura think that perhaps appearing here was far more purposeful and significant then first thought.  

“What do you know about their appearance? Is there a look that generally associated with them?” She continues. Anything she learns would be of use. 

Rikishi thinks for a moment, humming a sound that echoes in the alleyway, but is only audible to Sakura. “Westerners often associate Shinigami with skeletons and black cloaks.” He says. “But as for us… I don’t believe there's an exact image that comes to mind aside from maybe the colour black. The image of death is one that has many faces.”  

That seems… very accurate. She recalls the black garb Ichigo wears. Its very traditional in design, not a cloak, but definitely black. 

“Sakura-san, correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re asking about the fellows that wear the black  _kosode_  and  _hakama_  aren't you?”  

Sakura perks up at this revelation and leans in instinctively. “So you have seen them before?”  

“That I have.” Rikishi nods. “But I wouldn’t call the experience great.” 

“Did something happen?” 

“Yes.” He nods once more and lets out a great sigh. “He was a rude man, that one. It was right after I had just died and he wasn’t exactly breaking the reality to me in the nicest way. He was very cold.” He lets out a slight laugh. “That man probably never cracked a smile in his life.”  

“Sounds like an asshole.” Sakura intercepts. 

“Maybe he had his reasons.” Rikishi counters. “Regardless my impression wasn’t great.” Something sparks in his eyes and he waves his finger in remembrance. “That’s right! This was also the first time I saw a… Hollow you called it? The beast snuck up on us and that fellow told me to run. I had no reason to disagree so I did, and I thats how I ended up here.”  

“And the Shinigami?” Sakura questions. 

“He survived, but he never came after me. Either something came up or he didn’t want to bother.” Rikishi lifts his hands and shrugs. “I always thought it was strange, but back then everything was strange.” 

That… was strange. From what she had seen from both Rukia and Ichigo, Shinigami seemed take their job very seriously. She recalls Ichigo’s kind words to the child soul after their fight with the Hollow and how thorough he had been. His gentleness and kindness had shone through and painted a picture of an entity capable of empathy. Then again, Rukia had said Ichigo was a “substitute Shinigami” but unfortunately for Sakura, she had no clue what that entailed.  

In her world the Shinigami -- singular -- is believed to be a higher being. Spirit or god, they are at a level not easily achieved by humans, nor understood. Sakura doesn’t know the exact circumstances surrounding it, but she does know of the Uzumaki Clan fuinjutsu; the one used to seal Kurama into Naruto involved summoning that exact entity. Other than that, she knows nothing beyond tales and stories. 

But… if the Shinigami here are plural and not only a single creature, then it's understandable that they would all be different in the end, as all sentient beings capable of emotion are. Some would take things seriously… and others wouldn’t. Same as humans. Same as shinobi. 

Doesn’t excuse it though, Sakura thinks. If she had just died, she would be drowning in the shock and tragedy of it all, and most definitely terrified. For a Shinigami to not finish the job… that was, one, unprofessional, and two, very weird. She can’t blame Rikishi for being slightly wary of them after such a botched meeting. 

“I met two of them.” Sakura says after some thought. “They were interesting to say the least, but they mentioned a place called Soul Society, do you know anything about that?” 

“Well, being that you’re able to see me, I’m not surprised that you would manage to meet them too, but so soon?” Rikishi eyes are closed in concentration as he thinks. “It's been years now, but I do recall that man mentioning such a place. Unfortunately it was around that time that Hollow creature showed up so our talk was cut short. Beyond that, I know nothing.” 

“And he never came after you? At all?” Sakura can’t shake the strangeness of that no matter how much she tries. Didn’t they care about what happened to the souls of the dead? Wasn’t it their job to guide them to Soul Society? That seemed… shitty. 

“Nope, not in my entire afterlife have I seen him since. I’ve seen others dressed similarly, from a distance at least, but not face to face.” The old man lets out a small sigh. “That is fine with me, I have things I’m not ready to let go of quite yet.” 

“Even with Hollows milling about?” Sakura asks. “Rikishi-san you said that every veteran soul is familiar with them. If you know they’re dangerous, why hang around?” 

“This old man has some unfinished business.” He says, and he doesn’t seem like he’s going to elaborate beyond that. Respecting his privacy, Sakura doesn’t dig into the man's life any deeper after that. He clearly doesn’t want to talk about it, and she wouldn't dare step on his toes after he’s been so helpful. 

“Now that I think about it, I haven’t had a run in with another Hollow since then either.” He opens his eyes. “From a distance sure, but they haven’t attacked me at all.” 

“That seems like awfully good luck.” Sakura says, slightly skeptical. “All this time and only one Hollow? They don’t seem like the lazy types.” Her legs sting in reminder of her miscalculation of their speed 

Rikishi shrugs. “Whatever the reason, I am grateful. It's given me the ability to stick around without fear. They leave me alone and that's fine with me.”  

It's not that simple to Sakura. It seems strange to her that Hollows would give up on such a defenseless food option after only one run in. Hollows, in her admittedly very limited experience, seem to be beyond rational thinking when it comes to consuming souls. Enough to create dastardly plots in order to eat their fill and more. So why leave Rikishi of all people alone?  

Unless of course they have a reason to avoid this area and not others. 

None of it adds up, but she’s wasting too much time on mysteries that aren’t exactly prevalent to her current situation. If Hollows avoid the area, than that's fine with her. She won’t have to worry about Rikishi being eaten anytime soon. That's not something she wishes to have weighing on her conscience. He seems to have been doing fine on his own so far up, he’d be fine in the future too. Hopefully. 

“Thank you for the help, Rikishi-san, sorry to grill you about so many things.” Sakura lets out a deep sigh. She didn’t learn much beyond what she’s already aware of. Again, she’s simply been presented with more mysteries and not many answers.  

It seems she’ll simply have to wait for Rukia to make her appearance and she’ll get her info that way. It was unfortunate that Sakura hadn’t asked for where she could find her instead. In retrospect being able to seek Rukia out opposed to waiting for her would have been far more optimal.  

“I’m hoping by learning as much about this world as possible, I’ll get some hints as to why I’m here.” She finishes. 

“You don’t have to apologize my dear! This old man is happy to help! Being able to actually talk to someone after so long is a treat and I’m more than happy to help you figure out how to return home.” Rikishi gives her a wide grin. “Just visit again, won’t ya?” 

Sakura looks aghast at the notion of her never returning again. “Of course I will!” 

Rikishi laughs and waves his hand. “Of course, of course, I wouldn’t doubt you. You’re such a good child. A little bit reckless, but good.”  

As if proving his point, when she stands up she accidentally lets out a noise of pain, causing Rikishi to sigh. “Reckless indeed.” 

Her faces warms. “I’m just a little sore.” 

“Of course.” He humors her and then adds. “Gone so soon?” 

Guilt replaces embarrassment and she gives him a sad nod. “I should head back now. I’m working as a live in housekeeper for a place near here, I should have probably returned an hour ago.” 

“Housekeeper? How did you manage to find a place to stay  _and_ a job?” He looks surprised. “It’s not some shady place is it?”

“It found me.” Sakura deadpans. “And it's not shady, I promise.”  

It was a little shady. 

Rikishi raises an eyebrow but doesn’t attempt to dig deeper into the situation. “I suppose you can tell me all about it when you come back again. For now, you have somewhere to be, don’t you?” 

“I’ll be back soon.” Sakura assures him.  

Rikishi smiles up at her. “Of course, but make sure to take care of yourself first, hmm? No more reckless storm chasing.” There's a note in his tone that tells her he’ll be unhappy with her if she continues. Sakura’s childlike sensibilities flare up at the thought of disappointing the grandfatherly man. She doesn’t doubt that she’ll be chewed out when it happens. 

With that in mind she prepares to take off, but not before Rikishi voice causes her to stop. 

“And… visit Yumie too, won’t you?” Rikishi’s smile morphs into a for more sad looking expression. “I know you have more important things to worry about but, if she’s anything like me -- and she is -- I know she would be delighted to see and talk with you again.”   

Sakura gives him an understanding look and then a big grin. “It's a promise!”   
  


* * *

 

When Sakura returns to the shop later that morning it's with an apology already at her lips and an excuse on the back burner.  What she doesn’t expect… is it to be completely vacant. Its clearly open for business; she gleams this from the fact that the wooden sliding doors have already been removed allowing onlookers to see inside. And yet here's no signs of its occupants anywhere.

Gently sliding open the front doors, she calls inside.  

“Hello?” Her voice reverberates into the heart of the house, but there is no answer. All of the lights are off and the only sign of any recent life is the box sitting on the tatami porch next to Kisuke’s desk.   

Sakura ducks in nervously, worried that this is all for a purpose she’s unaware of and for some reason or another she’s ruining something. When nothing explodes and no one yells at her, she scoots on in, all the while looking around for any signs of her housemates. 

This whole time she had been worried she would be late  _again_ but without the residents of the house anywhere, she had no idea what to think. That being said, with her being gone all morning, anything could have come up and she would be none the wiser. Maybe… it would be better if she didn’t wander off nearly as much, if only to stay in the loop. Even though getting home was definitely a priority, losing her standing with the people giving her a home isn’t exactly the best outcome. After all, it had already shown to be an inconvenience to not have a phone as her conversation with Rukia had proven.  

Her eyes are immediately drawn to the box on the porch in her scanning of the area. Being that it's the only object in her line of sight that is interesting and different, Sakura can’t stave off her curiosity. Double checking to make sure no one is around, she approaches the box, leaning over it with her arms behind her back.

She spots the words “Defective Soul” splayed across the side of it in big red letters and her interest is immediately grabbed. It's quite the coincidence considering she been on the topic of souls and other supernatural things for the last couple days. Was it a brand of snack? It was certainly a strange thing to leave on the porch unattended. 

She uncurls her arms from behind her and tentatively reaches for the flaps of cardboard hiding its insides from her prying eyes. She can’t help but be interested in it, being that it's just… there, but her conscience doesn’t make it easy. Should she really be nosing about business that wasn’t hers? Her hands hover unsuredly.  

Letting out a sigh, her conscience ultimately wins the battle and she instead grabs the box and places it off to the side. It poses a tripping hazard, and she supposes she might as well make herself a little useful. She hasn't really been much of a housekeeper as of yet. Now she can at least add “box mover” to her incredibly basic resume. 

Something rattles just behind her and Sakura whips around almost instantaneously. Her body tense and her eyes wide. She scans the area for any danger, mind concocting different battle and escape strategies in the case of an enemy attack.  

“Myow.”

Oh. 

There's a cat sat on top of one of the wooden candy displays, eyes a startling yellow, and fur a shining black. It wears a look common among the average cat. A knowing and wise look, like its experienced things far beyond Sakura's imagination. And maybe it has. Cat problems are a lot different from hers afterall; or so she imagines.  

One thing that incredibly apparent from the get go, however, is that this cat is very beautiful. Its body poised in such a way that it just oozes regality, making Sakura think for a moment that she is in the presence of a being most important. She... very much wants to pet it. Like any cat she sees really. This one is no exception. 

“You scared me.” Sakura laughs, scratching the back of her head. She expects no real answer as she slowly approaches the feline in hopes of not scaring it away. When it sticks its ground despite her nearing presence, Sakura holds her other hand out for it to sniff. 

It looks at her for a time with its piercing gaze and then leans down and sniffs her hand in a languid motion, softly butting its head against her palm. Sakura has to stop herself from making embarrassing cooing noises unbefitting of a Jounin of her stature. 

“Myoh.” Is all it says in response. It's a deep and raspy meow, and Sakura is almost taken off guard. It was not the sound she expected to hear from its small form, that’s for sure. Its initial meow had not prepared her. 

“You’re just the sweetest.” Her opinion remains unchanged as the cat continues to headbutt her hand. She can’t tell if its a boy or a girl, Sakura notes as she pets the length of the animal. Regardless, she scratches it gently behind its ears and it leans into her touch. “You’re a beautiful thing aren’t you?” 

The beautiful thing in question purrs loudly in response and flops onto its side, stretching out her limbs as she soaks up all the attention. Oh, it is female, Sakura notices accidentally as the cat stretches. She looks very pleased and Sakura can’t help but think its because she had just been complimented. It seems like the cat is used to these types of words from others. She has no collar though, so possibly a neighbourhood stray? 

“You’re like a queen.” Sakura chuckles, realizing at this point she’s only truly talking to herself and no one else. The cats ears, however, flick and she looks up at Sakura with her big yellow eyes as if that word in particular has peaked her interest. “You don’t have a collar, so I guess I’ll just call you “the queen” then.” The queens eyes close slowly and she almost seems pleased with the name. 

Sakura then stands there showering the queen with attention for god knows how long and is so taken with her she completely forgets where she is.  

Right. In Kisuke’s shop. Petting a stray where his merchandise is. That's not great thing to be doing. 

Sakura lets out a big sigh and the cat looks up at her from her reclined position like its questioning her sudden change in attitude. Or at least, that's what Sakura imagines. In reality she's most likely wondering why Sakura has suddenly stopped petting her. 

“I’m sorry precious thing, I gotta kick you out. This isn’t a place for kitties, and I’d like to stay unfired, you know?” Sakura gives her another gentle scratch behind her ears.  

The queen sits up like she understands. “Myoaw.”  

“I know, it sucks right? But I’m sure you have ton of important business to attend to anyways.” Sakura reaches out slowly and when the queen seems unbothered by the action, she scoops her up and carries her out to the storefront.  

She purrs in Sakura's arms and Sakura feels guilt crawl into her stomach. “You’re making me feel horrible, you know that?”  

“Mror.” 

She puts the cat down onto the ground and the queen looks up at Sakura with her big ol’ eyes, barely giving her a moment to rest from her bleeding heart. 

“No, you stop that.” Sakura scolds the cat, whose doing nothing but stare. 

“Mrrp.”  

And that's all it takes. 

“I’m so easy.” Sakura groans, pulling a hand down her face. “You're probably hungry and thirsty, huh? I don’t really know what I can give you to eat since it’s not really my food to take, but I can check. For now I’ll get you some water okay?” 

“Mrrmp.” 

“I am but you're loyal subject.” Sakura mocks a bow and heads back inside, closing the door behind her. She finds a bowl in the kitchen and unfortunately nothing immediately edible for her little feline friend. She comes out with a bowl of water and places it next to the big concrete fence separating the shop from the surrounding apartments. 

The queen bounds over and rubs up against Sakura’s legs the moment she comes outside and then sits down and drinks to her heart's content. 

“Sorry to give you the boot sweetness, it just isn’t my place, you know?” Sakura attempts to crouch and immediately back pedals. Her leg doesn’t agree with that action and she is forced to comply. Instead she leans against the fence and watches as the queen has her fill of hydration.  

The queen lifts her head from the bowl and looks at Sakura inquisitively, making her realize she was probably producing some pained noises back there. Sakura smiles down at her. “Got into a lil brawl and got kind of roughed up. I won though, so don’t you worry.”  

The queen is looking up at her with rapt attention and a look that is somehow… human, causing Sakura to wonder what it is about that sentence that's causing her to be so interested in what she’s saying. After all, it's unlikely that she can understand anything Sakura is saying anyways. 

“You live in a wild world, you know that?” Sakura continues, despite knowing it's stupid to be talking to a cat at all. It's more of an excuse to talk to herself without having to actually talk to herself. “Its given me nothing but trouble since I came here.” 

The queen is still staring up at her and Sakura takes that as a sign to keep talking, even with knowing that this cat has no damn clue what she’s saying. 

“I’ve been told I attract danger like a magnet, but never has so much happened in such a short amount of time.” Sakura snorts to herself. She supposes, in her days as a more active shinobi these types of things weren’t that incredible, but as a ninja who stays in the village now more than ever, it's the most excitement she’s had in a while. 

“With monsters running amok and attacking people, I was bound to get caught up in it. That's just my luck.” Sakura folds her arms and looks down at the queen, who tilts her head in turn. “I’m sure your worries are a lot different huh? Ah, but I’m sure avoiding getting hit by cars is a similarity we share.”  

There is no answer, as expected. Sakura definitely prefers the non-judgemental silence of an animal opposed to the judgemental silence of a human. Especially an animal who won’t think she’s crazy spouting all this nonsense.  

“I’m pretty fortunate Urahara-san found me when he did. God knows I would have still be sleeping on that park bench if he hadn’t.” Sakura sighs, leaning back and staring at the clouds rolling across the deep blue sky. If that hadn’t happened, maybe she would have come across a Hollow much earlier. 

“I’m sure you have it rough too, huh your majesty?”  

“Myow.” Is all the queen says before dipping her head back down and drinking more water. They both stay like that for a while, taking in the sunlight and the nice summer breeze until the queen herself turns tail and bounds up the stone fence once she’s done. 

“Gone so soon?” Sakura parrots Rikishi from earlier. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get you anything to eat, but you seem resourceful. I’m sure you can captivate another poor saps heart like you did mine.” She laughs at the notion. “Be safe little thing, it's rough out there.” 

Sakura expects her to leave then, but the queen stops and spares one more look at Sakura.  

Its then that she feels something, like a sharp object being jabbed into her stomach and a heavy sheet being thrown over her body. It is like a Hollow, and yet different. Her body complies to the law of the universe and gravity pulls her downward and she just barely stops her descent with a hand on the wall. All the while she can’t break her gaze away from the cat’s burning golden eyes. Her head pounds and she’s forced to shut her eyes as the lights and sounds around her become to strong for her to handle.  

And then the feeling is gone before she can think; and when she opens her eyes, so is the cat. Breathing heavily, Sakura puts a hand above her heart and feels it's frantic beating through her chest. 

It takes her a second to gather her bearings after such an intense episode. Had that cat actually been a Hollow? Sakura doesn’t know what to think now. What even quantified as a Hollow in the first place? Could they look like animals? Was she maybe just mistaken and the presence had actually come from somewhere else? Certainly not, she had felt that aura come right from the cat. If there was one thing she was becoming good at, it was pinpointing the location of that pressure. 

She hadn’t exactly gotten the impression that the cat was interested in eating her soul, but now that she thinks about it, she hadn’t seemed like a regular cat either. 

Picking up the mostly empty bowl, the only evidence that the cat had even existed at all, Sakura wanders back into the shop a little wobblier than usual. As she cleans the porcelain object under the high pressure water of the sink head, she can’t help but feel she had been face to face with something unexplainable. 

Stomach churning after such a meeting, Sakura forgoes breakfast and coffee altogether and instead fills up a bucket she finds under the sink with water and a tiny sprinkle of dish soap. She brings it to the storefront and distracts herself with the monotony of dusting and cleaning. Rather than wait around for her boss to show up and give her things to do, she might as well take initiative and do what she thinks will help. And… she needed to do something opposed to being consumed by her thoughts as she had been for days. Her mind was certainly racing after what had just happened and she didn’t know what to make of any of it. 

Had the cat sought her out purposefully? That thought doesn't give her the most comfort, and her paranoia is not helping the matter either. Considering everything, strange and intelligent animals are not something new to her, but is it a standard here? 

That in mind, Sakura continues to tidy up for the next hour or so in order to distract herself, all the while making regular checks outside to see if her employer and co have come back. Even as hours pass, there is still no sign of them. 

Eventually, she finishes tidying and organizing and settles herself down in the dining room with a fresh cup of tea. That's when she spots it, a small piece of paper sat dead centre of the table.

_ Haruno-san, _

_You weren’t around to tell you in person so I’m leaving this note just in case we aren’t back by the time you return. Some business came up and we had to take care of it. I don’t know when we will return so help yourself to anything if you get hungry~_  

_Kisuke_  

After Kisuke’s signed name is a little doodle of him doing the peace sign and a heart. It's strange, but through the weirdness of it, she can’t help but think it's kind of adorable.  

Worries now quashed and instead replaced with irritation over the fact that she hadn’t seen the note earlier, Sakura grabs magazine off to the side of the coffee table.  

She raises an eyebrow at the cover. It displays an eccentric looking man with an equally eccentric get up, sporting a top hat and a fancy cane. His arms are crossed over his chest in an “X” formation and written underneath his arm is some text that Sakura has to squint to make out. 

_“Don Kanonji does it again! Our favorite spiritualist star talks about his life as a psychic and what it means to ‘smell a mean spirit’ in this new exclusive interview!”_  

Well intrigued, she flips open the book and scans its contents, another distraction for her aching mind. It seems Kanonji is a famous television star who specializes in the extermination of spirits. She wonders just how authentic this man truly is considering Rukia told her the average person shouldn’t be able to see spirits or their ilk. He seems like an interesting character though, that was sure. The rest of the article talks about his early career and then most recently his “Spontaneous trips to Spiritual Hotspots” all around Japan. 

She’s genuinely surprised to see such a magazine lying around the shop since Kisuke nor Tessai seem the types to believe in astrology or the works. Maybe it belongs to one of the kids? The article did mention that Don Kanonji’s fanbase is made up of mostly women and children. She supposes he does have a certain charm to him. 

As she flips through the rest of the magazine, Sakura finds herself more enlightened about the modern day Japan. Fashion, politics, technology. They're all so unique and interesting, and the more she reads the more fascinated she becomes about this world.  

And the more she reads, the more she realizes how hard it’s going to be to return to her own.

How many days have passed now? Five? Six? And she is still no closer to making her way back than she was on day one. By now, her friends and family must know something has gone wrong and be looking for her. And Naruto… the guilt he must be feeling… He had only been trying to help her by giving her such a simple mission. He knows first and foremost how suffocated she’s felt since her self imposed retirement; all he wanted to do was alleviate that feeling. But, no matter how god-like his powers may be and no matter how much he attempts to help everyone, Naruto is only human. And while try as he must, he can’t solve all of Sakura’s problems.  

Wanting to get off of that train of thought before it leaves her with another migraine, Sakura shuts the booklet and tosses it back onto the table. It helped give her a little bit of insight in regards to this world, but really only on a popular culture level. That was helpful in its own right, but not necessarily for dimension hopping. 

With her head in her hand, Sakura downs the rest of her tea and drums her fingers against the flat surface of the table. Boredom is setting into her bones, and she’s finding that she doesn’t really know what to do with herself. Her idea of finding a library is currently off limits because the idea of walking a far distance with her leg isn’t entirely wanted. And for once, she’d rather actually be here when everyone returns. 

Sakura’s stomach grumbling hungrily is a  reminder that it's far after lunch time and she hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet. While the idea of rummaging around in a fridge that isn’t hers for food that isn’t hers doesn’t exactly sit well with her, Kisuke had said to help herself. 

An idea pops into her head as she combs through the fridge in the kitchen and spots eggs. 

That would be something to do, wouldn't it? Sakura goes through the rest of the cupboards and manages to find several things prevalent to her interest, namely a baking sheet, a bowl, and a handful of specific ingredients. 

Hands on her hips and a pleased smile on her face, Sakura Haruno dons an apron and decides that today will be the day she bakes.

 

* * *

 

“Haruno-san?”  

Sakura rouses from her unconsciousness with a gross sense of pressure in her head and a overly nasty feeling of exhaustion. Also the vague taste of chocolate cookies mixed with green tea in an entirely unpleasant way.

“Harunooo-san~” There is a weight on her shoulder that feels like a hand and its gently shaking her.  

Yawning and lifting her head up from the coffee table, Sakura rubs her eyes blearily. She’s still in the dining room, and as she moves her arms, the rustling of material reveals that she had fallen asleep while reading another occult magazine.  

“Welcome back.” She says, drowsiness apparent as she attempts to peel the glossy material of the pages from her bare arm. It makes a slightly painful noise, and she cringes slightly. “I hope everything went well.” 

“Sorry to wake you.” Kisuke apologizes from behind her. “I just wanted to make sure everything was okay here.” 

“There was no problem.” Sakura turns to him and waves her hand. “There were no customers, but I did clean up a little.”  

Yeah, no customers, but most definitely a cat that nearly caused her to throw up all over her feet. Smiling despite the thought Sakura also adds, “Oh and I made cookies, I hope that's alright.” 

Kisuke blinks and Sakura stifles a snort when she sees his taken aback look. “I did think it smelled rather good in here.” He says. “I’m sure the kids will be happy to hear.” 

Sakura gives him a slightly drowsy thumbs up, momentarily forgetting this man is her boss. “Cool.” She says, and then coughs embarrassedly. “I mean. Great. That's great. I couldn’t find much to do so I figured I would bake something.”

“That's very much my fault.” Kisuke admits, and she hears some vague rustling of paper as he moves just out of her sight. “I gave you this job… but it seems like I don’t have much for you to actually do.” 

Sakura waves his apology away. “You gave me a place to stay. And I did manage to make myself useful.” She points out. “Are you really sure you don’t want me to be paying rent?” 

He finishes rustling about and sits down at the other side of the table across from her, evening the stack of documents in his hands on the tabletop. “Could you pay rent?” He asks, eyebrow raised. 

“...No.” Sakura concedes.  

“Then there's nothing you can do, hmm?” Kisuke says, and his attention shifts to the papers in front of him. He flicks through the sheets from beginning to end, and then lifts his pen and begins writing. “If we keep having to have this conversation maybe I will charge you rent.” 

Sakura heats up embarrassedly and looks away. “Sorry.” 

“The more you apologize the thinner the ice gets Haruno-san.” Kisuke says. “It's not a problem. I mean it.” 

An awkward silence sets in after that and lingers just a little  _too_  long. Sakura doesn’t know what to do to break it. Should she even? He seems busy and she really doesn’t want to get admonished again. 

“Where is Tessai-san?” Is the weak conversation topic she offers and she can only sigh inwardly. 

Kisuke, without looking up, answers her. “He’s preparing dinner at the moment, and the kids are upstairs.” 

In a single moment he has taken her conversation topic and her backup topic and thrown it right in the trash. She should probably not pester him about any more inane things. Would it be rude if she just got up and left? What if she excused herself to go to the bathroom?   

“You like magazines?” He suddenly asks, and Sakura blinks. She hadn’t expected him to be the one to initiate.  

“Um… No, not particularly.” She answers, pushing the open magazine underneath her away, closing it. “It’s just something to read.” 

It was actually as close as it got to visiting a library without actually physically visiting a library. While she had been waiting for the cookies to bake, she had nothing to do, so she found a couple more magazines lying around and scrounged them up to read. She now has a much clearer understanding about many things she didn’t before. Like how a “lawnmower” is used to cut the lawn! Which, she probably could have guessed through context clues had she tried to. 

“Yourself?” Sakura returns the question. 

Urahara hmm’s as he flips a corner of the document he’s on, and then returns to his current page. “It's just something to read.” 

And with that its silent again.  

Sakura’s not really sure, because she doesn’t fully understand Kisuke beyond his weird vaguely flirtatious and mysterious persona, but it almost feels like he’s… in a bad mood? He doesn’t seem the type that gets upset easily, this is clear from her many interactions with him; and even right now he doesn’t seem upset so much as he seems kind of… off. 

“Urahara-san… is everything alright?” It's a tentative question, because Sakura doesn’t want to butt into a situation that is none of her business and pester him more than she already has, but she asks regardless because that's what she does. The Sakura Special is what Ino calls it. 

He pauses in his writing, and she nearly misses the slightly startled expression he wears before it morphs back into a more familiar look. It almost seems… faker to her now, even though it looks absolutely no different from usual. Why is that? 

“I’m quite fine!” His tone is once again cheery as continues writing. “Why is it that you ask?”  

Sakura rubs the back of her head in a nervous gesture she picked up from her Naruto. Should she not have said anything? Was it weird that she did? Maybe she was wrong after all. 

“A-ah, well it just seems… like you’re kind of down, somehow.” She laughs nervously.  

Kisuke hmm’s and stops writing. 

“Well,” He admits after a pause. “I accidentally sold a damaged item to a customer today.” 

Sakura perks up at this. “Was this the business you mentioned?” She asks.  

Kisuke sighs. “We dealt with the matter, and it ended up working out, but as a merchant dedicated to his craft, it left quite a sour taste in my mouth.”  

That definitely makes sense to Sakura. Even if the issue had resolved itself, the fact that it happened in the first place would feel like a personal failure. At least in her experience. And she… had a lot of that.

“And you feel frustrated because of it?” Sakura gently prods. She should probably stop while she’s ahead, but butting her nose into problems that aren’t her own is so intrinsic to her personality she can’t stop herself. 

Kisuke pauses and looks to be thinking, like he’s unsure if he should say what he’s about to say. “There's that,” He says, looking uncertain. “And… my boss won’t be happy if they find out.”  

A merchant's dilemma, Sakura thinks. The feeling of personal failure mixed with the threat of a higher up finding out about it all. She can’t say she’s been in that exact situation, but she’s been in very similar ones. 

...Many. 

“That's tough.” She starts. “I know from experience that some bosses aren’t very forgiving.”  

Technically her real “boss” is the Hokage first and foremost, but before she became a big name medic-nin she had all kinds of different bosses within the hospital itself. Some were good, some were great and some were.... Bad. 

“This boss definitely is not.” Kisuke exhales, and Sakura doesn’t know how to feel about seeing this usually cheery man seem so worn. It doesn’t sit well with her at all. 

Sakura crosses her arms and pinches her eyes closed in thought. “Hmmm....”  

Kisuke let's outs a slight laugh at her expression. “Haruno-san, don’t worry yourself over things you have no control over.” 

“What if I beat them up?” 

Kisuke chokes and the pen falls out of his hand. “Excuse me?” 

“Yeah, I’ll fight them.” She says with a firm nod. 

“My boss?” He attempts to confirm. “You’ll fight my boss?” 

“A little strong arming never hurt no one.” Sakura states. “Except the people that it hurts.” Kisuke produces a ‘pfft’ noise in response. 

“As much as as I believe you, Haruno-san, I don't think my boss will be easily ‘beat up’.” He says, a laugh escaping him. 

“What? You’re telling me that fighting the people I disagree with is a bad business practice?” Sakura remarks, thick with humor. “I guess I know where I went wrong all these years. Maybe my advice is fallible after all.” 

“Certainly not.” Kisuke says with a hint of sarcasm. “I’ve never heard of such a sound business plan in my life.” 

“Oh? Then maybe there's hope for me yet.” 

“Maybe, Haruno-san. Maybe.” He chuckles.

“Regardless,” Sakura admits with a tint of seriousness to her voice. “Mistakes happen, and if you need someone to vouch for you.” She gives him a thumbs up. “It's only natural after all you’ve done for me. I’d be happy to help.” 

Kisuke blinks at her, surprised, and for a juncture he looks like he’s unsure. She supposes that is fair, her word doesn’t necessarily carry a lot of weight in a world she isn’t supposed to exist in. Someone he found on a park bench is probably something that doesn’t unstill much confidence. 

“Haruno-san, you continue to intrigue me.” He says after his pause, picking up his pen once again. 

“In a good way, I hope.” Sakura lets out a nervous giggle. That was the second time he had said that now, and it was starting to sound like a murderers mantra.

“Of course.” He says.

Amongst the sound of his pen scribbling on paper, Sakura can’t help but find herself unable to believe him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is so much damn hang time between each chapter in the Bleach manga yall and it's an absolute nightmare to write Sakura into. It's a great recipe for developing Ichigo and Rukia's relationship in canon, not so much for what I’m trying to do here! How many times can I write Sakura making cookies before it becomes too much LMAO. 
> 
> I’m glad you’re all so interested in my story and its development and I hope you all continue to read to find out more!


	6. Chapter 6

The days following pass without consequence. No Hollows reared their heads and no black cats made her throw up all over her shoes. Occasionally, she would feel Hollows at the edge of her senses but they always disappeared soon after. Most likely the doing of Ichigo. It had become commonplace for Sakura since her first introduction to the beasts, and now more than anything, they were simply another fact of this world she was growing accustomed to.

Hollow “energy” -- it wasn’t chakra so what else could she call it? -- was always at the forefront of all of those facts. Sakura wasn’t a sensor type like Ino. She couldn’t tell you a family’s entire emotional history and their last meal through their chakra. But that isn’t to say her senses are poor or anything like that. She can detect other’s chakra well enough, and even her ability to sense physical presence is slightly above average. However, within that scope it's understood by many that this extends mainly to shorter distances.

And that is why, being able to feel these Hollows, and feel them clearly at that, is astonishing to Sakura. It's so different from chakra. When she senses chakra, it is like a flag in the form of a being. Each one is unique to the person, and with her eyes closed Sakura would be able to tell all of her friends apart just by chakra alone. But this energy… its so much different. It buzzes against her insides and sets her on edge, lingering in her senses far too long. It presses down upon her soul and pulls at her spirit in ways she can’t comprehend

And she can feel them, the Hollows. She can feel their position and even the amount of -- Pressure? Energy? She still doesn’t know what to call it; it was too specific -- they gave off. Not measurable by regular means, but more like intuition. It was a feeling she was struggling to grow accustomed. But with it, in its fully unpolished form, Sakura was at least able to discern how close the beasts came to the neighbourhood.

They all stayed just far enough, just as Rikishi had claimed and the conclusion Sakura came to was that Shinigami probably had routes around the area. And being that Karakuracho is definitely not a small town by any means, there are probably more than a handful of these routes. The Hollow’s must be wary of them.

Coming to terms with this new sense of hers was most certainly exhausting and overwhelming, but the “energy” at least no longer sent her sprawling onto the floor. In her opinion, that was good progress even if she didn’t know what she was exactly measuring in regards to her slow but sure success. If it helped her avoid beefing it and passing out at inopportune times, she was a big fan.

Unrelatedly, as the week progressed and having become more familiar with her surroundings and homestay, Sakura finally inquired about directions to the nearest library and subsequently made her way there, thanks to the help of Tessai. Unfortunately, she had no luck finding exactly what she needed, not that she really had much hope to begin with.

The libraries in Konoha are sprawling with books and scrolls of all sorts of topics ranging from simple subjects like kunai throwing to forbidden techniques and jutsu’s (though that latter was not actually available to the ready public like it was to her) and she had become slightly spoiled by its stock. In Karakura’s library, all Sakura managed to receive was a strange look from the receptionist and a side eye when she asked for books on “non-fictional dimensions and realms”. She settled for books on Japanese mythology and history after that.

It didn’t end up being all hopeless, because one thing that was proven from her little excursion, however, was that the mythology of Japan was frighteningly similar to the stories and tales she read and heard growing up. It was fascinating to her in many ways, and unnerving in others. The mentions of shinobi and other familiar figures of her world -- such as the _daimyo_ \-- in their history only continued to bring up questions she couldn't answer. The theory of alternate dimensional travel is one thought she had played with for awhile, but again… what would she do if that even was the case? She couldn’t will up a portal just because she wanted to.

Once upon a time, the concept of alternate dimensions were the type of plot point Sakura would find in a movie or book before actual reality. Things had definitely changed in the last 10 years.

Insanity aside, she didn’t actually have any solid physical proof of an alternate dimension beyond herself just being in this world, and even then it wasn’t very telling. But it still brought up an interesting point that she wished she could explore further. It was no help that Rukia still had not shown her face since the fight and it left Sakura rather disappointed. Rukia was most likely busy with Hollows and who knows what other duties Shinigami have, but Sakura was going through a big dry spell of inaction as the week progressed and it was driving her crazy.

Meanwhile on the shop-front, her duties were about the same, sometimes she would have something to do, sometimes not. The rest of her housemates kept plenty busy, though, and there was hardly a time where she didn’t see Kisuke doing some semblance of paperwork. She had offered to help them all, but had ultimately been waved away. Apparently orders were piling up and it was making things very chaotic for them. It was interesting to Sakura that they seemed so busy, but not once had she ever seen a customer. Perhaps they delivered items long distance? It seemed kind of old fashioned versus what she had seen this world was capable of.

Overall, Sakura was just… hanging out more than anything. Her presence at the shop didn’t seem to bother the rest of the house minus one of course, but fighting against the mentality of “oh god I have to be doing something” was killing her inwardly. Especially when everyone else seemed to be incredibly busy with things they wouldn’t let her help with.

As for the residents themselves, Sakura had attempted to talk with Jinta again since they had gotten off on the wrong foot, but that went about as well as one would expect. He had cursed at her and stomped off, causing Tessai to admonish him and apologize to Sakura again to which she just laughed off. In all honesty, it was a hit to her ego because she felt like she was good with kids. Ururu at least seemed to like her and that was 50% of the total kids in the house so that was good at least. Maybe it would take time.

And somehow, that nothing-week brought her to now, amongst a crowd of excited fans and a cacophony of noisy and excited chatter. None of her initial week had prepared her for this, of all things. To be on the set of Don Kanonji’s show so shortly after learning about him, that sure was something. And the amount of people it had amassed-- the article she read had severely underestimated the amount of fans Don Kanonji seemed to actually have. Initially said to be mostly children and women, the turn out seemed to be harboring just more than those two sets of people.

Big crowds like this, gatherings or the like, are not situations Sakura does well in anymore. She excels at many things. Working under pressure, making the tough calls, punching, cutting people open (not exclusive to surgery), keeping cool with upset patients and their desire to yell at her despite the fact that she was doing everything she could--. Yeah, there were a lot of things she had gotten good at dealing with.

Crowds though… Since her self imposed retirement, she had become rather adverse to them. And yet, in a completely unprecedented act from her, she accepted Kisuke’s extended offer to join them all on their outing anyways. It was the polite thing to do and between her work off dusting object one and object two, a show about ghosts and psychics was 100% more riveting than laying on her futon doing nothing but constructing conspiracy theories. She is a little familiar with Don Kanonji too and if he is a psychic like he claims to be, she might just be able to learn something useful. Fun with a dash of info gathering. It might just be the most interesting thing to happen to her all week.

Eyeing the heavy security with disdain, Sakura figures that if she intends to talk with him face to face, it probably won’t be through the proper channels. Maybe after the show she can track him down if he proves to be worth it, but she doesn’t exactly have high hopes.

“Bohahahaha!” A group of teenagers performing Don Kanonji’s infamous line and pose grab her attention away from watching the crew set up the filming equipment. Seeing the cameras and lighting fixtures brought up the fonder memories of Team 7’s mission in the Land of Snow and she had become lost in her thoughts.

Scanning the crowd for the culprits of the noise, a particularly large man catches her eyes. They widen in recognition and she can barely contain her surprise as she sees not just Chad, but Ichigo and Rukia as well. The three of them are surrounded by a couple of other teenagers she doesn’t recognize, but based on how they’re interacting, they all must be friends. They seem to be visibly teasing Ichigo with their antics and Sakura can’t help but crack a smile at his scowling face. Chad himself seems unbothered by their antics with his calm and stoic expression. He seems to have recovered since their last meeting and for that she is glad.

Seeing Rukia however, comes as quite a shock to her. After such a long period of time where Sakura hadn’t seen hide nor tail from her, of all places she expected to run into her, the shooting of a flimsy psychic show was not on that list. Sakura makes to approach them, because goddamn she’s been wanting to speak with Rukia for days now, but a voice causes her to stop.

“Sakura-dono, over here!” She hears Tessai call from over by the back of the crowd, quite a distance away. It seems while she was distracted, Kisuke and the kids had already made their way into the thick of the people.

“R-right!” Sakura shouts in reply. “I’ll be right there!”

She spares a glance back at Ichigo and Rukia and decides that she can approach them post show. It's not urgent for her to see them right now, and being that they’re with their friends, it wouldn’t be appropriate to talk about what she needed to anyways.

Sliding into the mass of people in an attempt to follow Tessai, her small stature makes it hard for her to make any headway. She loses him rather quickly and she tries not to panic when she can’t see his very recognizable head.

“Tessai-san?” Sakura calls, but the crowd is much too loud and drowns her out. She squeezes past a couple of people and ends up at the front of the barrier easily, but there is no sign of the people she came with. She looks around and attempts to find them, but people are still floating about and talking with their friends so she can’t see much for long. A displeased frown crawls onto her face and she can only rub her bicep nervously. This whole crowd deal was a much easier prospect when she thought she was going to be with her group. God dammit.

“It's about to start!” Someone calls from behind her, and she grunts as she gets pushed forward into the barrier from the excited mass of people. The air is buzzing with excitement Sakura can’t help but be influenced by it too, despite her overwhelming anxiety. It had been a long time since she had been on a show set and it was sort of nostalgic for her. No Princesses or ancient technology though, but that's to be expected from this world. If only the crowd didn’t make her feel like she’s about to fall apart at the seams; otherwise she might have been a little more excited.

Amongst the chatter, something bites at her senses and causes a shiver to wrack her body. It enters the fog of noise, piercing through the clamor of the horde around her and at first she can’t quite make it out, too distracted with her thoughts and the voices of those around her, but then it becomes loud enough to overpower the noise and she has no choice but to listen.

AAAAAAAUGH

It is a scream that isn’t entirely human and it causes her stomach to curl into itself. It takes much self control for Sakura to refrain from covering her ears at the frequency of the sound. The people all over don’t seem to take notice of it at all, laughing and talking happily with one another. It clearly belongs to something from the unseen world then. It doesn’t stop her teeth from chattering and her body from breaking out into a cold sweat though. What the hell.

Followed by the shouting, a presence appears. She feels this viscerally, and the horrible feeling doesn’t stop growing within her chest. The presence materializes in front of the hospital and Sakura’s eyes become glued to the spot in front of the dilapidated entrance. The presence grows and grows until something starts to form human shape.

It's a man, chain protruding from his chest with more chains wrapped around his body in a restricting fashion. She can’t help but swallow nervously at the man, wondering why he would be restricted like he is, but then she notices that the chains lead back toward the hospital itself. She’s seen a similar chain before on Rikishi’s spiritual body; the kind that came out of his chest. It's the tell tale sign of a spirit then, Sakura thinks, but this spirit feels unlike Rikishi.

“THIS HOSPITAL IS MINE!” He shrieks, and Sakura cringes at the ferocity and volume of it. “I WON’T LET ANYONE TAKE IT FROM ME!”

He then goes on about his inheritance and his father and brother, and Sakura basically tunes him out in favor of her own thoughts. Just what is he exactly? Is he dangerous? The chains are clearly restraining and keeping him from moving but do nothing to stop his incessant screams of anger. Her senses may be going haywire because of him, but it seems he seems like he’s all bark and no bite. He’s cursing at people, especially the camera men who get too close; but he can’t actually do anything. Sakura doesn’t quite know if it's okay to leave him be, but there's not much she can do anyways.

The content of the spirits yelling don’t so much bother as the actual sounds he’s producing. It borders on Hollows like, reverberating in her heart and body and shaking her to her core. It scratches at her insides and her chest in an uncomfortable tightness she can’t just shrug off. Maybe she should have just stayed back at the shop after all. Hopefully whatever is happening, Ichigo and Rukia will take care of it.

“We’re about to start shooting!” Shouts one of the crew members, and they begin counting down. Sakura fidgets nervously as the narrator does his introduction and all of them are forced to look up as a giant metal machine flies through the air. It takes her a second, not wanting to tear her eyes away from the screaming spirit, but the terrible ruckus the machine creates forces her to relent. Sakura immediately tenses at the sight of it. If it was anything like a car, she didn’t like it.

Don Kanonji dives from the vehicle and parachutes down all the while delivering his lines. Sakura can’t help but be impressed. Real psychic or not, he definitely knows how to put on a show.

He lands down in front of the camera, and the show officially starts. The people behind her chant Kanonji’s catchphrase and nearly blow out her eardrums.

She would have really preferred to be with Kisuke and the others, because now she felt out of place and nervous all by herself, facing the brunt of all of the noise. She wonders how they’re holding up on their end. Better most likely.

Despite that, Sakura watches with keen interest as Don Kanonji circles around the spirit, confirming that he does indeed see them like he proclaims too, unless its sheer chance. It seems unlikely, being that Kanonji is holding his chin in thought and staring at the spitting spirit in concentration. The spirit in turn curses at him aggressively. From an onlooker who is also capable of seeing spirits, it is extremely fascinating. That is until Kanonji stabs the end of his cane into the spirit’s hole in its chest. The scream the spirit lets out is head splitting, and equally as hair-raising. The scratchy feeling doubles in its intensity and instinctively Sakura’s fists clench around the rope barrier.

Sakura knows very little about Hollows and even less about spirits but this whole situation screams bad news to her. She can only imagine that what Kanonji is doing is harming rather than helping. She grabs the rope instinctively but refrains from vaulting over it, knowing that acting out in front of the entire crowd and cameras isn’t a good idea. Security would be easy to handle, but Kisuke, Tessai and the kids were all watching from wherever they were and she didn’t want to seem like she was a few marbles short. And getting arrested might not be a good look for her either.

Looking around for any sign of Rukia or Ichigo Sakura prays that they jump in before something terrible happens. If its as bad as she believes it is, that means they will be on their way over soon.

“Oi!” She hears an oh-so familiar voice shout and her prayers are thankfully, and rather quickly, answered as the boy himself vaults over the barrier a couple meters away from her. However, her relief is short lived as Ichigo is tackled by a group of security guards in his sprint. This is then followed by Rukia entering the fray, who is also tackled by security guards. They both struggle and when Ichigo is punched in the face by one of them, Sakura just about jumps into the fray herself, laying low be damned.

“Hey, watch it!” Someone to her left shouts, arm swinging and managing to hit her in the temple with his elbow hard enough to send her toppling backwards into the crowd. The woman behind her kindly helps her up and curses out the person who accidentally hit her. If it were any other time Sakura might have a few choice words, but instead thanks the woman before pulling herself just in time to see Ichigo sprinting away in his familiar black outfit.

Rubbing her temple, Sakura doesn’t know how he managed to get free, but lets out a big sigh of relief and deflates visibly. But then, a small explosion sounds off -- like something is popping-- somewhere in the mass of people and the individuals next to her, as well as herself, are alarmed.

“What the hell was that?”

“Aren’t things getting really weird?”

“What if it's a crazy fan? Isn't that dangerous?”

The crowd is growing more and more unsettled and as Sakura watches the spirit’s form begin to crumble and deteriorate, her instincts tell her it's only going to get worse. A white light flashes and the spirit explodes, a deafening boom shaking her and the people around her, all whom sound and look terribly confused.

With an extremely rushed ‘thank you’ to the woman who caught her, Sakura whips around and pushes back through the crowd. None of this seems good to her, even if the spirit had vanished. Weaving through person after person. Sakura spots a familiar stripe hat wearing man; or the tail ends of him at least.

“Urahara-san?” She calls out after him but he doesn’t seem to hear her, and disappears once she pops out of the back end of the crowd.

On one hand she’s confused and on the other she’s concerned seeing her employer in a rush like he is. But her senses blare like sirens in her mind, warning her of what's about to come and she’s forced to look past that in favour of the current situation. She can dwell on it all later, because a Hollow just appeared up above the hospital and that's a presence she can’t mistake.

She jogs down the length of the crowd, searching for any gap she might be able to spot in the security. She sees a spot by the edge of the building, near the tall concrete fence. There's no security there, and if she knows anything about hospitals, and she knows lots thank you, it's that there's most definitely a fire escape up the side.

She starts in that direction, but someone familiar catches her eyes and causes her to stop.

“Rukia!” Sakura calls out the the woman standing at the edge of the mob, whose face is taught with concern.

Rukia perks up and whips around to face Sakura, eyes widening in surprise. “Sakura?”

“What's happening?” Sakura comes to an abrupt stop in front of her, panic apparent and unease settling on her skin.

Rukia cuts right to the chase. “The demi-hollow turned into a Hollow, Ichigo is dealing with it right now.”

“Demi-hollow?” Sakura asks, then shakes her head. It might explain the horrible noises he produced but questions of that type could come later. “Shouldn’t we help him?”

As they speak, Ichigo has already dragged Don Kanonji through the front doors of the hospital, and disappeared into its darkness and out of their sight.

Rukia shakes her head. “There's nothing we can do right now. With security being the way it is, we’ll get caught immediately.”

“I can sneak by.” Sakura offers, eyes darting back to the hospital and then back to Rukia. This isn’t something to be speaking idly about. “I’ll go up the fire escape and help Ichigo without a single person noticing.” Her instincts are screaming at her to just move and help the poor boy.

The sound of rubble and glass breaking echo throughout the building along with the sound of the Hollow’s screeching has her grinding her teeth. Sakura doesn’t wait for an answer, because her body is saying go and she’s agreeing with it.

“I’m going.” Sakura says, and makes like she's about to sprint, but Rukia's fingers clasping around her wrist stop her.

“Don’t be stupid!” She hisses. “Ichigo is used to handling these situations, he’ll be fine.”

“What about Don Kanonji?” Sakura bristles. “He’ll be killed if we don't do something!”

“He won’t.” Rukia declares, and stares right into Sakura’s eyes with a look of certainty. “Ichigo won’t let that happen.”

Rukia’s hand remains clasped around her wrist, and Sakura finds the weight somewhat comforting but shakes it off regardless.

“I’m going.” Sakura says, and turns.

“This isn’t business for a human!” Rukia yells at her. “Leave it to us!”

Sakura glares back at her. “No.” And then she runs off.

Rukia groans loudly but doesn’t chase after her. Maybe she knows nothing will deter Sakura from getting involved or she hopes Sakura will get eaten. Either way Sakura is going, because there's too much that can go wrong and it all falls on one young boy's shoulders.

Sakura approaches the fire escape and hops from railing to railing, ascending quickly. The noises are rampant within the building, and amongst the clattering and crashing can be heard screaming as Ichigo shouts at Kanonji. She slams open the door of the floor she lands on just as the Hollow crashes through the outside wall with Ichigo unfortunately attached. She hears his yells all the way up and curses.

Don Kanonji is laying on the ground but seems in completely fine condition. Good. Sakura goes back out the door and continues to ascend.

None of this sits well with her. She might still not understand all the details, like what a Substitute Shinigami is and why Ichigo is playing that role, but even she can see that it’s a heavy job for just single person. Why should all of this responsibility be left to Ichigo and no one else? And why won’t Rukia help him? Sakura clenches her teeth in frustration.

She lands on the final railing and hops gently onto the concrete of the roof. There she sees Ichigo duking it out with the beast. He manages to spot her in the scuffle and his eyes widen, but he doesn’t get a chance to call out. Not wanting Ichigo to blow her ambush, Sakura roundhouse kicks the Hollow in the back of the head. Ichigo jumps out of the way as it skids across the ground and he looks slightly flabbergasted.

“What the hell-- what are you doing here!?” He gawks, between irritation and large amounts of confusion.

“Lending a hand.” Sakura replies with a small smile. “Thought you might want some help.”

“I--” Ichigo starts, but gets cut off as Don Kanonji slams the rooftop door open.

“Sorry to keep you waiting boy!” He shouts dramatically and Sakura can just see the nervous anger come off Ichigo in waves. Don Kanonji then spots Sakura and looks befuddled.  
“Another spirit whose a fan?” Kanonji asks, head tilted in question. The Hollow begins to rouse and shakes itself off, causing Ichigo to burst out in panic.

“Kanonji Run!” Ichigo makes a wide motion with his arms, sword still in hand.

“Unfortunately,” Kanonji says weakly. “I can’t even stand.” His legs give out beneath him as if to emphasize his weak state.

“Then why did you even come here!?” Ichigo’s howls in annoyance, and the Hollow leaps at him again while his guard is down. Sakura, who had been watching the beast with keen eyes as the two of them bickered, intercepts. She grabs the Hollow by the back of its neck as it lunges and slams it into the concrete.

“Spirit fan girl! You’re also quite strong!” Don Kanonji shouts in awe and Sakura can’t help but feel slightly annoyed herself. Kanonji doesn’t look like he knows as much as she originally thought he did and his common sense seems to be even less.

Meeting Ichigo’s eyes and communicating non-verbally, Sakura leaps back off the Hollow and Ichigo follows it up with a downwards slash to the Hollow’s mask. He cuts it in half, and a bright light shines as the beast’s form slowly starts to crumble, signalling its defeat. Sakura lands back on her two feet and frowns slightly.

Kanonji jumps for joy at their victory. “Amazing! You’re a wonder boy! And you too Spirit Girl!”

“Don’t jump for joy just yet.” Ichigo says, sheathing his sword. They all watch as the form of the beast begins to disintegrate, revealing the man who had been screaming before. Its as Sakura suspected, but it doesn’t make it any less unfortunate.

Kanonji however, looks absolutely devastated. Understandable, after all the man thought he was helping spirits, not hurting them. He falls to his knees with tears in his eyes as Ichigo explains just what Hollows are. However, his realistic words and mentions of Kanonji’s dedicated fans heard cheering below, sobers the man up and he wipes his tears away.

Sakura prepares to make her exit, but Ichigo gives her a quick look and she stops. Ah, he probably wants to talk to her.

Don Kanonji does his infamous pose and lines at the lip of the roof and his fans return it to him. It’s a touching scene. But, maybe Ichigo did have it all under control after all. Well, she wouldn’t be herself if she didn’t involve herself where she wasn’t needed.

After it's all settled, Kanonji hands Ichigo a card before he leaves that she can’t see from where she’s standing, but the face Ichigo makes hints at its content.

“Spirit Girl!” Kanonji quite suddenly shouts and Sakura jerks at being talked to so suddenly. He approaches her steadfast and she freezes.

“Um, no I’m not--” Sakura attempts to lessen the misunderstanding that had somehow come about, but something gets thrust into her hands as well.

“I don’t know where you came from, but you were quite brave!” He praises her, and Sakura laughs nervously. What could she say really?

She looks down, and the object in her hands is a card that reads ‘Don Kanonji Fan Club’ and its addressed to ‘Brave Spirit Girl!’. Now she understands why Ichigo made that face.

“...Thanks.” Sakura says meeting Ichigo’s eyes over Kanonji’s shoulder. He points over his own shoulder, motioning towards the ground and she understands his message. Don Kanonji looks pleased as punch and Sakura doesn’t want to hurt the man's feelings.

“I’ll treasure it.” She lies and he smiles.

* * *

 

“I told you he had it all under control.” Rukia points out the moment they come back.

Both she and Ichigo had descended from the roof and rejoined with Rukia who in turn peeled herself away from the set and onto the street. Sakura’s okay with that. She’s had about enough of crowds for one day. And Hollows.

“Well, there was no point risking it was there?” Sakura argues, idly twisting the fan club card in her hand. It had a holographic film on its surface.

“... It's not like I’m ungrateful or anything but,” Ichigo admits. “I did have it under control.”

Sakura scratches the side of her cheek, pocketing the card. “Well, I would have regretted not getting involved so it is what it is, yeah?”

“That's an extremely simple way of putting it, but yes.” Rukia sighs again and then looks at Sakura with a hard expression. “We need to talk.”

Ah, yes that's right.

“I have some questions too.” Ichigo says, scowl back in place. “You’re… not human are you?”

If Sakura recalls its actually the first time Ichigo had seen her in action. Had Rukia not told him about her after everything last time? Weird.

“Again, yes, I am human.” Sakura laughs slightly. “But where I’m from, humans are… uh. More capable?”

That's one way to put it, but Sakura hadn’t really thought about what her explanation was going to be since she last saw them. She had been a little preoccupied with other things.

“You said something like that last time. What do you mean where you’re from?” Rukia narrows her eyes. “Just who are you?”

It's not worth putting it off anymore. Sakura lets out a big sigh.

“I’m not from this world.” She says and points down for emphasis. It really sounds twice as insane when she says it outloud. Rukia and Ichigo both blink at her response. Maybe that's not what they expected her to say though she feels like she remembers saying something like that before. Maybe she phrased it differently.

“At least I think so.” Sakura tries to assuage their disbelief. “I don’t know how or why but for whatever reason I’m just… here now.”

“What do you mean you don’t know how or why?” Ichigo questions, confused.

“I was sent here by someone. Through a portal or through… something, and where I ended up was here.” Sakura scratches the back of her head. “I’ve yet to actually figure it all out to be honest.”

Rukia holds her chin in thought and Ichigo looks down at her.

“What are you thinking Rukia?” He asks.

“If she’s telling the truth, it's not totally implausible.” Rukia says after a moment of deliberation. “Soul Society and the human realm are two different worlds that are connected after all, and the same could be said about Hell. However, just where did you come from if not from Soul Society?”

She’s totally accustomed to this sort of thing. Ichigo too. Sakura can’t help but think. Comes with the job it seems. Its making this discussion very easy as least.

“We refer to my world’s planet as ‘Earth' and I’ve noticed that it's the same here. But if you want specifics, the place I come from is a village called Konohagakure which is found in Fire Country.”

“Konohagakure?” Ichigo parrots. “I’ve never heard of it.”

Sakura slumps slightly at the declaration. A look of guilt flashes across his features and he scratches his cheek bashfully.

“Neither have I.” Rukia adds. “Along with Fire Country. Though it's curious that ‘Earth' seems to be a similarity shared.”

“And it's not just that either.” Sakura sits on the sidewalk railing as she delves into explanation. “I did a little research and found out a couple things that our worlds share. First being language which I think we already know, and second being mythology and certain historical figures.”

“Oh?” Rukia raises her eyebrow. “Figures like what?”

“No one specific, but I read up on Japan’s history when I had time and I discovered that shinobi, along with the _daimyo_ , also existed here in Japan at some point.” Sakura explains. “There are some minor differences, but it seems like the base is almost entirely the same.”

“Ninjas? That's a strange thing to have in common.” Ichigo blinks, confused. Rukia looks thoughtful at this new information.

“I thought so too.” Sakura nods, and then clasps her fingers together. “However, unlike society here, our society is completely based around the existence of shinobi, in other words, they aren’t figures of the past.”

“A… society based around shinobi?” Ichigo repeats, stunned. Rukia looks completely intrigued.

Ah, this is more stuff she’ll have to explain. Maybe she’ll just take it slow for now.

Sakura nods. “It's kind of complicated for a single conversation like we’re having now, but in simpler words, I am a ninja. And the abilities you both saw are connected to that.”

Ichigo rubs the back of his head with a look of disbelief. “... A ninja huh…”

“Sorry, I’d delve into it more but I don’t really think here is the best place.” Sakura sighs. “I was hoping you both might know something about me being here given your occupation, but it seems like you know even less than I do.”

Rukia’s looks slightly guilty. “Ah, yes, this all comes as quite a shock to me so I don’t really know what to think.” She crosses her arms and sighs. “But it definitely explains your weird reiatsu and your powers. If you come from a different world… I can only imagine the rules differ too.”

“You two seem very used to this kind of thing, huh?” Sakura chuckles.

Ichigo scratches the back of his head, still looking unsure. “Well, it's pretty unbelievable in my opinion, but,” He gives her a small grin and Sakura thinks he looks much nicer like that than scowling all the time. “After everything I’ve experienced in the last month its… digestible.”

“You’re a good kid.” Sakura says suddenly, causing Ichigo’s face warm. He scowls and looks away bashfully.

“W-well I saw how you fought with my own eyes, and it's not like you’re weak. I’d be stupid to not believe what you’re saying after that.” He says, and rather embarrassedly at that. Its cute, Sakura thinks.

Rukia looks amused at his response and turns back to Sakura. “I’m sorry there's nothing I can tell you that will help you in this situation. My experience with… realms really only extends to Soul Society and the human world.”

“Ah, no don’t worry about that.” Sakura waves her away. “I expected as much but it was worth bringing up just to hear what I’m dealing with. I think I finally have the scope of my situation.” Yeah, a big issue with zero leads.

“However, if I learn anything that will be of help, I’ll let you know. I owe you one after all.” Rukia offers, and Sakura is deeply moved at her kindness. “I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to find anything out soon, so you’ll just have to sit tight.”

Sakura leaps up and grabs Rukia's hands in her own, and bows. Rukia jumps at the sudden contact but doesn’t pull away, surprised at her sudden actions.

“Thank you!” Sakura smiles widely. “Thank you so much, you don’t know how much I appreciate that.”

Rukia returns her smile, though slightly shy. “Lets just say we’re even now, and that next time you get a chance, tell me how you healed yourself before. Another day, though.”

Sakura releases her hold on Rukia's hands. “I don’t mind that, but you’re right, that's for another day. And if you can, I’d like to learn more about shinigami and this ‘reiatsu' you spoke of.”

Rukia’s expression falls for a moment before returning to her regular expression. “I can only tell you some things, but again that can wait another day.”

She has things she can’t talk about either, Sakura thinks. That's fine, hers is only curiosity anyways.

“I can't promise any results.” Ichigo adds too, after a moment of silence. “But I’ll help you out too.”

“Thank you both so much.” Sakura smiles widely. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”

* * *

 

Ah, she forgot.

“We were concerned about you, Haruno-san, when couldn’t find you after the show ended, I was worried something might have happened.” Kisuke flaps his fan, tone chiding but mostly upbeat. He stands between her and the staircase and Sakura puts a little too much thought into how much speed running and jumping off the wall behind him in order to avoid  
this conversation entirely would take.

“I’m sorry.” Sakura apologizes, bowing politely. They had all beaten her to the shop first, and before she could sneak her way upstairs and into bed, Kisuke caught her red-handed.

It had completely left her chaotic mind that she had gone with Kisuke, Tessai and the kids to the Don Kanonji event. She had been so preoccupied with the Hollow and everything else, it completely flew right past her that they would most likely be upset about her just abandoning them.

After she had left Ichigo and Rukia with promises to see eachother again, she had promptly made her way back to the shop. That's when she ran into her boss.

He waves her off. “Don’t apologize, we were just concerned that's all, you didn’t say anything so we didn’t know.”

“Well, after we got separated, I wasn’t sure where you all were.” Sakura says. Yeah, that had been real cool. Nothing quite like being by herself in a horrible crowd. Yikes.

Kisuke doesn’t respond immediately and stares a little too long. Worrying that she has something on her face Sakura nervously sweeps back her bang.

“Is everything alright?” She asks, self conscious. And tired. She’d kindly like to go to bed now but Kisuke is still blocking the hallway.

“Did you hit your head?” He asks, and Sakura gets a little hostile before realizing he meant it literally and was not calling her an idiot.

She reaches up and touches her temple, remembering that she had been hit pretty hard by that guy’s elbow. She completely forgot about that in the discord. She winces when her fingers make contact with the tender skin.

“Ah, yeah, sort of. There was a guy in the crowd who hit me.” She says, and Kisuke’s eyes go wide.

“Not on purpose!” Sakura follows up realizing how it sounds. “It was an accident. I’m pretty short so I just got an unlucky elbow that's all. It was after I lost you guys.” She doesn’t really want to dwell on this because it's an extremely minor bruise. And it's embarrassing. She’s a trained Jounin who didn’t even see an elbow coming from such a close proximity.

“Ah, I should get Tessai-san to grab the first aid box then and we can at least bandage it--”

“No!” Sakura interrupts abruptly.

Kisuke looks slightly surprised and equally confused. “Haruno-san?”

Realizing she has just snapped at Kisuke for no reason, Sakura scratches the back of her head in a nervous gesture. “I-I mean, no, I’m fine. Thank you for your concern. It's just a bruise it’ll heal eventually.”

“Well,” Kisuke starts. “I won’t push you, just let either me or Tessai know if your head bothers you at all.”

“A-ah, I will thank you.” She smiles a little too wobbily.

Kisuke gets an odd look on his face before it gets replaced with an even more unreadable one.

“Anyways,” Sakura clears her throat before the awkwardness can settle into her bones and make the situation more embarrassing for her. “I’m gonna head to bed I-- I’m dead tired. Thanks for inviting me along.”

Kisuke dips his head and moves out of her way. “Of course.” He says. “I won’t keep you any longer, just glad to know you’re okay.”

She wouldn’t say that, but Kisuke is just being nice so she avoids saying anything overly rude. Sakura moves past him and towards the staircase but pauses as a brief memory of a striped hat in the crowd hits her. She had been too preoccupied to do anything then, but now she has a perfect opportunity to ask him about it.

“By the way,” Sakura says after a moment. “I managed to catch you during the show but you seemed like you were in a rush. Did something happen?”

Kisuke doesn’t say anything, fan snapping open and covering the bottom half of his face, but he seems to straighten up. It might just be because she’s dead tired and the trick of the light, but he looks… ominous like that.

“Everything is quite alright.” He says. “I got a phone call regarding business and had to take it.”

Its… unexplainable but something in Sakura slams against her ribcage at his answer and she can’t figure out why.

It's not the first time Sakura has been off put by this man. When she first met him, she hadn’t exactly been impressed by him. He was nosy and had no sense of personal or emotional space with his odd invasive questions. And then, he said weird vague things she couldn’t quite understand and dodges questions like it's his job.

Kisuke Urahara is a mystery.

From head to toe that man confounds her; be it his strange fashion choice or cheerful front. Kisuke Urahara is someone she can’t explain nor does she think she’ll ever be able to. Even now, with her instincts flaring and telling her something about this man, she can’t tell what this something is supposed to be.

“I see.” Sakura says after a long stretch of silence. “I hope it went okay then.”

Kisuke seems… disappointed by her answer and she hasn’t a clue why. What was he expecting her to say?

“Goodnight.” Sakura bids him farewell with a small bow, far too exhausted to prolong the conversation and put off her sleep any further.

“I--” Kisuke stops himself short and pauses. His eyes get lost under the brim of his hat and he nods in her direction “Goodnight Haruno-san.”

As Sakura climbs the staircase, she spares one more glance at Kisuke before ascending to her destination.

It must be paranoia.

* * *

 

Ururu likes Sakura.

The whole situation involving her is a strange one for sure. Between finding her on a park bench and then their boss just up and deciding to essentially adopt her into their home, Ururu doesn’t know which stranger. But, Kisuke has always been a strange one so it is truly no different from any of his other antics.

And Sakura is a sweet woman. She always says hi to Ururu and they talk even if Ururu doesn’t always say anything. Sakura acknowledges her and includes her in the conversation regardless, and while its something simple it touches Ururu in ways she can’t quite vocalize.

And to top it off, she makes good cookies too. She and Jinta promptly devoured those after finding out from Kisuke that she had made them while they’d been out trying to wrangle the Mod soul. Jinta had been a little more hesitant at first, but even he couldn't resist cookies made by the person he hates.

But that's something that confuses her. Ururu doesn’t get why Jinta hates Sakura like he does. Sakura’s been nothing but nice to him since she showed up and just like with herself, Sakura always tries to talk with Jinta when she has the chance. Considering Jinta has been nothing but rude to her since day one, she doesn’t owe him anything but tries regardless. Sure, Ururu herself was a little nervous at the prospect of having a stranger live with them too, but it became easy to see that Sakura is a kind soul. And it's not like Kisuke has ever steered them wrong either. She trusts his judgement.

But Jinta hates her, and Ururu is not sure what to make of it, because Jinta hates many things but never as vehemently as he hates Sakura Haruno. He’s a little rough around the edges and immature too, so it easy to mistake his feelings on certain subjects as just childish anger. Just like how she knows Jinta cares about her even if he teases her all the time, though she wishes he wouldn’t. But there's no mistaking his hate for Sakura.

“Jinta, why do you hate Sakura-san so much?” Ururu asks him one day while they’re busy moving boxes from an early morning shipment to the storage room.

Jinta immediately scowls, as if even the idea of Sakura infuriates him.

“I think she’s nice.” Ururu says when Jinta doesn’t answer her. “I think if you gave her a chance you’d--”

“She’s creepy.” Jinta blurts, though his tone isn't angry like she expects. It’s completely calm for Jinta. That’s very weird.

“C-creepy?” Ururu repeats, very confused. She never got that sense from Sakura at all. She’s mysterious sure, and despite the strangeness of finding her asleep on a park bench, she’s actually quite normal.

“She’s lying too.” He says, and Ururu can only stare at his back as he turns away. She’s never seen him like this before; was his dislike for Sakura that extensive?

“A-about what?” Ururu asks, because she has no clue how or why Jinta thinks this.

“Everything!” He whips around with his arms raised. “Don’t you see it too? She lies about everything and I can tell. Whatever reason made her end up in that park wasn’t some family squabble or whatever dumbass excuse she gave us! The boss realizes too but he doesn’t say nothing!” He growls and crosses his arms. “It's all so stupid. If he knows, why doesn’t he do anything.”

Ururu’s stomach drops at the thought of Sakura lying to them, but she doesn’t fully believe his point.

“Maybe she just can’t talk about it.” Ururu offers, because if there's one thing her and Jinta share, its dislike of talking about things from their past.

Jinta frowns but doesn’t argue that point. Even he won’t tear someone down for that. Seems that even he draws a line somewhere.

“But don’t you feel it? Her reiatsu, it's… weird.” Jinta looks disgruntled at just the thought.

Its true. Ururu has noticed how strange Sakura Haruno’s reiatsu is. It's hard to explain, because the woman doesn’t have very much to sense to begin being a human, but it’s an unsettling energy. Not like a Hollow because Ururu is sensitive to Hollow reiatsu more than the average person and if Sakura even showed even a hint of it, her body would react instinctively. It's more Shinigami-like than anything but even then… it is a little creepy; even she would admit that.

“Kisuke-san knows what he’s doing.” Ururu repeats her words from a week ago because she genuinely believes it and wishes Jinta would too. Kisuke takes care of them and would never put them in a situation that would endanger them.

Jinta grabs the dolley and starts wheeling it towards the door.

“I wonder about that.”

* * *

 

“Sakura-san! What an absolute pleasure to see you again!” Yumie beams, wasting no time in waving Sakura through her front door.

Sakura yelps as the woman pushes her in, barely even letting her get her greeting out and even less time to kick off her shoes, which land messily on her porch.

“Horikoshi-san?” Sakura questions, the old woman’s hands at her back as she shoves Sakura further into her apartment.

“I just finished making my wagashi and I want you to try them first.” She says, paying no mind to Sakura’s confusion.

“Oh, um, okay. S-sorry for the intrusion.” Sakura says politely, not even attempting to object to Yumie’s rather… assertive actions. Yumie doesn’t look like she’s about to listen to her until she eats anyways, and in fact, she’s quite strong isn’t she? Sakura isn’t the lightest person thanks to her muscle mass, so the fact that Yumie is pushing her with very little trouble is quite impressive. Is she seriously the same old woman whose groceries she helped carry all those days ago?

They make their way into the kitchen, Yumie sitting Sakura down in a chair at her dining room table. She then quickly flees into the kitchen and reappears with a plate full of multicolored wagashi and sets them down in front of her.

“These are beautiful, Horikoshi-san!” Sakura compliments immediately, picking up a beautiful pink one. It’s shaped into a cherry blossom, and it's a rather fitting first pick.

“Not too bad for a decrepit old woman, huh?” Yumie beams, looking rather proud of herself. “Help yourself, my dear, I’ll make you some tea and then you can tell me what you think.” She puts a hand on Sakura’s shoulder and then disappears back into the kitchen.

“O-oh, yes, thank you!” Sakura calls after her, and then looks back at the pretty plate of wagashi in front of her. She then looks at the bag she has in her hands and sets it on the floor. It's full of the cookies she baked and managed to snag before Ururu and Jinta devoured the rest like wild beasts.

After the fiasco at the Don Kanonji event and her confession to Ichigo and Rukia, Sakura figured she should finally make her rounds and see Yumie like she promised she would. Seeing as she'll probably be stuck in this world until further notice, she might as well make herself cosy. Anything can happen, but she’s hinging on the fact that it won’t for a while. Which is… a bummer in some aspects but she’ll deal with it.

She bites into the pink wagashi and looks around Yumie’s apartment. It’s exactly how Sakura imagined her apartment would look like. Soft colors adorning the walls, shelves lined with photos and knick knacks, some pretty cross stitched flowers. Grandmothery is definitely one way to put it, and entirely in a good way.

“It's absolutely delicious, Yumie-san!” Sakura calls behind her, meaning every word.

“Oh, fantastic!” Yumies replies, coming out with a bowl of rice crackers. She sets them in the center of the table and there's a brilliant grin on her face. Sakura can’t help the smile the grows on her own.

“I brought these for you.” Sakura grabs the bag on the floor and stands up. “They’re chocolate chip cookies. I wasn’t sure if you’d like them or not but I figured if that was the case you could give some to your grandchildren if you wanted to.”

“Ohoho~” Yumie chuckles as she takes the bag from Sakura. “These little demons are coming with me and me only. Thank you Sakura-san, you’re such a sweet girl.”

“Just don’t eat too many, it’s not good for your blood sugar.” Sakura says instinctively, and then realizes what she said just a fraction too late.

Yumies blinks at her, then smiles gently. “Yes, yes, I’m perfectly healthy my dear.”

Sakura's face heats up. “I’m s-sorry, that was totally insensitive! I’m so used to saying that type of thing to my patients that I--”

Yumie waves her away and smiles to herself. “Quit fussing you. It's fine. In fact it's... just like having one of my grandchildren over and it's nice to hear.”

Ah, that's right. If Sakura remembers correctly all of her grandchildren are at school at the moment so they don’t visit as much anymore. A frown crawls onto her face.

“Horikoshi-san--” Sakura begins, but stops when Yumie lifts her hands again to stop her.

“Its alright Sakura-san. After both my husband and my father died, I’ve grown accustomed to the people in my life leaving. It's just a fact of life, and I wouldn’t dare guilt my grandchildren into visiting their grandmother because of it.” Yumie looks at the wall of photos and smiles somberly.

Something lodges in Sakura throat, and her eyes become somewhat blurry.

“Call me Sakura-chan!” She blurts, causing Yumie to look at her in surprise. “And please feel free to consider me like one of your grandchildren!”

Yumie blinks. Once, then twice. There's a great silence and Sakura worries that's she just crossed a line she shouldn’t have but then, Yumie lets out a hearty laugh, tears welling up in her eyes. It's unclear whether they’re from laughter or not, but she smiles brightly.

“I would love that, Sakura-chan.” She says, wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes. “If that's the case, please treat me like your grandmother.”

Oh no, she might have just made a promise she can’t keep.

“I-I will!” Sakura replies just as the kettle goes off.

“I’ll go get that.” Yumie sniffs, still wiping her eyes. “And then I’ll take out some cards and we’ll play a game, how about that?”

“That sounds great, Horiko-- Yumie-san.” Sakura flounders momentarily.

“Call me Grandma, I’d prefer that. Who calls their grandma by her first name?” Yumie produces a ‘pffft’ noise. “Are you up for a game of poker?”

Sakura was expecting a game of Go-Fish or even Old Maid, but Poker is just as fine.

“That sounds good to me.” She says. Yumie smiles at her, and heads towards the kitchen but stops.

“Just so you know,” Yumie says, grinning. “I can play Poker up there with the best of them.”

Sakura blinks, and then grins widely too. “That sounds like a challenge and I accept.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god I’m sorry this one took so long, I was away from home for 2 months while I worked this summer and had no  
> internet while I was away. I chipped away at this one for a quite a while, mostly because I wanted to worldbuild a  
> little more, but didn’t know how to go about it. Also not gonna lie, i highkey ship rukia and sakura now…. what have i  
> done to myself.
> 
> Shits gonna pop off soon, if yall know what chapters are coming up. Some quincy vs shinigami might cause some  
> problems in our little town :]
> 
> Thanks for reading and thanks for the lovely reviews as always! Save for just a couple, you guys have been so sweet!  
> Also when i reread chapter 4, I noticed a big error and akdkkskd that's embarrassing fuck
> 
> *sakura voice after seeing ichigo once* this is my son now
> 
> *Yumie voice after seeing sakura once* this is my grandaughter now 
> 
> The cycle never ends
> 
> See you guys next time!


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